Journeys
by Llama Kingdom Entertainment
Summary: Red and Green are ready to start their Pokemon journeys, each with a partner Pokemon and a Pokedex from Professor Oak. On the road to greatness, though, they meet strange new friends and make terrible enemies, all the while realizing that they may be a part of something much bigger than themselves.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello, and welcome to the very first part of my Shadow Nexus series. This is going to be very long running, so I hope all you people like that. I'm sorry if I don't update very often. I am quite lacking in the motivation department, but I'm going to get help for that soon since it's affecting my school performance too, so I hope that will have at least some effect.**

 **So, most of the main characters in this are aged up slightly. Red, Green and Blue are all 14, while Yellow is 11. Each region has a different age that kids are allowed to become trainers, and in Kanto that age is 14. Red's younger brother in this is the male protagonist for FireRed and LeafGreen, and Leaf shows up at some point as Green's younger sister.**

 **Anyway, hope you all enjoy! If you find anything wrong, please throw a comment my way. That way, I can learn where I'm making mistakes and grow as a writer.**

Red was trying to get some sleep before the big day. He really was. If it weren't for his little brother, he probably would've been fast asleep by that point.

"Flare, turn that down," he grumbled into his pillow. As usual, Flare completely ignored the request, instead keeping his own attention firmly on the battle he was watching.

"But it's so cool, Red! Nidorino's winning!" Flare finally responded. Red lifted his head up just enough to look at the monitor that Flare's battle was on. As per usual, the boy's excitement had caused him to misjudge the contenders. Even from the small bit he could see, the Gengar that served as Nidorino's opponent clearly had the advantage due to its typing. Nidorino's poison type moves had little effect on the ghost and poison Pokemon that was fighting.

"At least use headphones. I have to get up early in the morning," Red reminded his little brother.

"Oh yea! The professor is giving you and Green Pokemon! I heard that the one's he has for you are really rare and awesome, not like the usual starters the League sends," Flare lit up with excitement, even though Red was the one getting a Pokemon. Red shrugged in answer to the statement. He'd heard similar rumors, especially since Professor Oak had asked him and Green to refrain from requesting starter Pokemon when they'd sent in their applications for trainer licenses. He didn't want to get his hopes up too much, though.

"Any Pokemon would really be fine with me," and that was true. He layed back down on his bed with his eyes to the ceiling, having given up on getting any real sleep. Rather than being picky with the kind of Pokemon he got, what Red really wanted was for their oldest brother to be able to see him off on his journey, but that was impossible. For a split second, he thought about trying to call the hospital. It wasn't like there was any point, though. If there was any change, they would've already called their mom about it. Still, he felt the urge to call, just to see. As if Flare could sense what Red was thinking, the younger boy looked up to the top bunk where Red was.

"You're thinking about Satoshi now, aren't you?" Flare asked Red, sadness flickering through his light blue eyes. He and Red had the same eyes, and they were both pretty sure Satoshi shared that trait with them. Neither could really remember, and they were both getting increasingly afraid that Satoshi would never wake up for them to find out.

"Yea. I wish he was here," Red replied with a sigh. "But maybe he'll wake up in time to see you leave, though."

"I hope so… they'll tell us if anything happens, right?" by this point, Flare wasn't watching the Pokemon battling on the screen anymore.

"Of course they will," Red assured. The worried look on his brother's face didn't go away, though. Then, it was replaced by a slightly more embarrassed one.

"Can I sleep with you tonight?" he finally asked. It had been awhile since Flare had asked that. It caught Red a bit off guard.

"Aren't you a bit old to be sleeping in my bed? Plus, you'll be right below me anyway," Red said.

"I know, but it's your last night before leaving… plus, you're good at keeping away the nightmares," Flare went a bit quieter. Even after a few years, Flare still had nightmares about Satoshi's accident, even though no one really knew what had even happened. They only knew that it had been a dark and stormy night the first day of Satoshi's own Pokemon journey. He'd wanted to go challenge the Pokemon League with the goal of someday becoming the Champion himself. Instead, their older brother had ended up in a year's long coma with little chance of waking up.

"Ok, fine then. But just this once," Red secretly hid a grin as Flare rushed over to the ladder to the top bunk, almost forgetting to turn off the computer.

"Thank you," he said as he reached the top, squeezing Red tightly in a bit of an awkward sibling hug. At least it was awkward for Red, since he wasn't the huggiest of people.

"You're welcome," Red murmured, finally able to get some rest.

* * *

 _Red!_

At the sound of his name, Red opened his eyes to realize that he was standing. He had absolutely no clue where he was. Tall trees, with blackened trunks and no leaves, loomed around him confusing his sense of direction. They looked dead. A strange, purple black mist swirled around him in the forest, obscuring his view of the sky.

"Hello?" he called out to the mysterious speaker, unsure of who was talking. "Who are you?"

 _Follow me_ , the voice said again. The strangest part was that there was no noise accompanying the voice. He merely heard it in his mind. He spun around, searching for whoever was speaking. A glimpse of pink flashed at the edge of his vision, and he turned to it, almost immediately losing it again in the deep mist. The voice had sounded almost like a scared child who needed help, so he started walking in the direction that he'd seen the color. As he went, everything looked the same, and he wasn't sure if he was even going the right way.

 _You must help us, free us, save us,_ it came again. Red frantically turned around and around, losing himself in the misty landscape. Suddenly, the flash of pink came again, and he ran after it, only managing to turn himself around even more. Finally he came to a stop at the edge of a cliff, overlooking what looked like his hometown, Pallet Town. Except, it couldn't have been Pallet Town. Everything was destroyed, in ruins, surrounded by the same purple mist that was in the dead forest. There was motion in the mist, but Red was too far away to make out what was moving. He turned away from the scene, unable to look on any more, only to come face to face with what was probably the strangest Pokemon he'd ever seen. Like a pink, hairless cat with a long tail and very fine fur. Whoever it was was floating around him, darting around in the air.

 _I have come to show you your future. However, it is one that will only come to pass if you allow it,_ the Pokemon said with the same voice from before.

"Who are you? What do you mean my future?" Red was only getting more and more confused by the second.

 _I am merely your guide. Seek out the lightning healer of Viridian. She will show you the way_ , at that, the swirling mists began to condense around Red, hiding the strange Pokemon from his sight.

"Wait, I don't understand!" he called out as a strange buzzing noise sounded in his ears. It was penetrating and annoying, like the sound of a Beedrill swarm. It got louder and louder, seeming to penetrate his very brain. The discomfort caused him to stumble backwards, losing his balance on the edge of the cliff. Just as he was about to fall, the colors of everything changed, and he was back home lying in his bed, having just woken up. He groaned, opening his eyes to see the bright sunlight filtering through the shades covering his window. He stuck his hand under his pillow to shut off his vibrating Pokegear, wondering why it didn't play the usual alarm noise. He laid there for a second, thinking about his dream. The details were already slipping away, but he certainly remembered the strange Pokemon and the message it had given.

"Flare get up," he mumbled, shaking his younger brother slightly. It wasn't hard to reach him. The small eleven year old was clinging onto Red in his sleep like a Komala to a log.

"I don't wanna go to school," Flare whined a bit. In response, Red wiggled out of Flare's grasp. "Hey!"

"It's Saturday dunderhead, there's no school. You've gotta let me get up so I can go to the lab," Red got up and made his way down the ladder. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Flare had rolled back underneath the blankets and was currently burying his face in the pillows. How he never suffocated like that, Red had no clue. Maybe Flare breathed through his skin or something like a Poliwag.

Red quickly got dressed in a black t-shirt and some jeans before grabbing his red jacket from the back of the desk chair. Then he rushed downstairs to the kitchen for breakfast, nearly falling down the stairs in the process.

"Woah there Red. Slow down. The professor isn't going to leave any time soon," Red's mom was already standing in the kitchen, making pancakes.

"I'm fine, don't worry. Are those chocolate chip?" Red asked, gesturing to the pancakes. His mom's chocolate chip pancakes were the best in all of Kanto, maybe even the world. They were always fluffy with gooey chocolate dripping out of every bite.

"Of course. I wanted to see you off with your favorite breakfast. Is Flare up?" she asked, sliding the pancake she'd been making onto a plate.

"Sorta. He slept with me last night, so my alarm woke him up, but I think he went back to sleep. Don't worry, though, I'll come back later to introduce you guys to my new Pokemon of course," Red said as the pancakes were served.

"Alrighty then. By the way, I found something outside that you might like," Red's mom held up a small pink stone that glinted strangely in the light. She handed it to Red, who looked more closely at it. It had a hole through the middle as well. Looking at it gave Red a strange feeling, as if he'd seen it before. That was a silly thought. It was just a pretty rock. It wasn't like it was the second coming of Arceus or something. Then again, if he looked very carefully, he could've sworn he could see a faint glow coming from the center of the stone. Maybe it was an evolution stone.

"Wow," he whispered as he turned it over in his hands. Despite the fact that it probably wasn't anything special, it was still a really pretty stone. "It's really cool mom, thanks!" he smiled widely, knowing exactly what he was going to do with it.

"I thought since it had a hole in it, you could start a chain like Green's," his mom suggested, as if she had read his mind.

"That's a great idea. And I know exactly what to start it with," Red pulled a long steel chain up from around his neck. He almost never took it off, but now was a good time as any. He unclipped it to slide on the stone, which slid all the way to the bottom to rest next to the two dog tags that were already hanging on it. "There. Fitting to start a memory chain with dad's dog tags and a stone to remind me of the day I started my journey, right?" he finished, slipping the chain back over his head.

"I like that. Just be careful not to put too many things on it, or else you'll strain your neck," his mom joked. She gave him a sad smile before turning back to the stove. It reminded Red of how lucky he was to even be going on a journey in the first place, especially after what happened to Satoshi.

Checking the time, Red realized that it was almost time to go, so he scarfed down the rest of his pancakes. He jumped up as soon as he was finished, raring to go.

"I've gotta go now, so I'm not late," he jumped up, almost knocking over his chair. He put his plate in the sink before rushing over to the front door.

"Be careful, ok?" his mom came over to give him a hug before letting him go.

"Don't worry mom, I will," he squeezed her hand slightly. Grinning widely, he pulled open the door. The day was already brilliant, and the wind was just cold enough to make him glad that he had grabbed his jacket earlier. "Bye mom!" he called out before running out into the brand new day.

* * *

This was not a good week at all. At least it wasn't for a certain thief waiting out the day at the edge of Pallet Town. First, Blue had gotten caught out in the rain for a few days, and then she'd been attacked by a flock of pigeons of all things. Pigeons! They weren't even Pokemon. It was embarrassing.

Annoyed by the turn of events, she looked down at the five Pokeballs clipped to her belt. All five were empty, but they wouldn't be for long. Soon, she wouldn't be all on her own anymore. All she had to do was wait for Professor Oak to leave the lab for the night, and then she'd be free to make off with whatever Pokemon was left. She didn't care what Pokemon it was as long as she could get to it. With a big sigh, Blue leaned back against the tree behind her, ready to wait for the moment when she could finally have a Pokemon of her own.


	2. Chapter 2

"Professor Oak!" Red shouted as he burst into the Pokemon lab. Also near the door was Green, who had an extremely annoyed look on his face, like usual.

"Well dummy, if you used your brain with a little help from your eyeballs, you'd be able to see that Gramps isn't here," Green said with a bit of a joking tone. His annoyed look got less so but didn't completely go away. Red knew that he was just kidding around, even if Green didn't want to admit it.

"He isn't in one of the other rooms?" Red pointed to the doors that led from the main lab into other rooms.

"I told you, he isn't here. I'm his grandson. Have at least that much faith in me," Green smirked, rolling his eyes at the same time.

"Your attitude doesn't exactly inspire faith, Green," Red muttered. "Anyway, if he isn't here, then we should go find him cause he said to be here at eight, but it's already eight ten," Red checked his Pokegear just to be sure. It was definite, though. The professor was late.

"Well, then you go have fun on your wild goose chase. I'll be waiting for you," Green tried to wave off Red, who merely stood his ground.

"You're coming with me," Red replied, stuffing his Pokegear in a pocket. "Knowing the professor, he'll be studying out on route one. You know what happened to the last person who went into the tall grass alone."

Even the usually calm and collected Green shuddered at that. A ten year old had gone into the the tall grass around the entrance of route one and had accidentally disturbed a nesting Rattata mother. The little boy had been lucky to get out of there with all of his parts intact. Pokemon, especially those raising young and especially in recent years, could be very vicious when they were spooked. Even the small ones like Rattata and Pidgey were dangerous.

"Ok, fine, but don't expect me to babysit you," Green sounded a bit annoyed as he grabbed his own jacket. The two went out onto the dirt road that led from the lab to route one. Pallet Town was small, so none of the streets were properly paved. The only people who even had personal vehicles were the few who worked in Goldenrod City, but those were few and far between, so the dirt roads were never a problem. If Red needed to get somewhere, he could walk or ride a bike. The edge of town wasn't all that far away from the lab, so they got there within a few minutes. Red stopped just outside of the tall grass, but neither he nor Green could see professor Oak anywhere.

"Woah. It goes all the way up to my belly button," Red said. Green, who was a bit taller, came and stood there as well.

"Hehe. It only comes up to my waist, shorty," Green snickered. "I dare you to walk in."

"Wait, what?" Red backed up a bit in surprise.

"Come on, do it! It'll be awesome. I promise I'll come in and drag your whiny butt back out here if you get attacked. Or are you too chicken?" Green started to make clucking noises to go along with the taunt.

"I'm not a chicken. I'm just careful!" Red protested. Green was being embarrassing.

"Then prove it! Walk into the tall grass. Doesn't even look like there's anything in there. It's so still," Green waved his hand towards the grass. Despite Red's protests, he thought that going into the grass would be fun. He didn't see Pokemon very often, other than those of passing trainers, so he'd get a chance to spot one.

"I still don't know…" Red said. Just as he was about to make his final decision, he heard the call of someone else coming from behind him. He twirled around to see Professor Oak coming from the direction of the Pokemon Center.

"What are you two kids doing here? Don't you know that it's dangerous in the tall grass?" he called out, carrying a bowl of strange looking dirt.

"Darn it Gramps," Green muttered.

"We were looking for you," Red followed up. "It was past eight, and you weren't at the lab, so we came looking."

"It's past eight?!" the Professor checked his watch. "Oh my, I completely lost track of the time. We'd better get you two your Pokemon then."

The group of three set back out in the direction of the lab. On the way, Red and Green got alternating lectures on the dangers of going into the tall grass unprotected and stories regaling the apparently wonderful qualities of Diglett dung. At least now they knew what the strange dirt was. The two soon to be Pokemon trainers looked at each other in mutual exasperation. As loveable as Professor Oak was, he sometimes became a bit much to handle. Finally, and somehow with their sanity still there, the group made it back to the lab.

"Is it just me, or was the walk there shorter than the walk back," Red muttered to Green.

"I think it was because of Gramps' yapping the whole time. Nearly bored me to death," Green said as he fiddled with a chain that was attached to one of his belt loops. There were a few dog tags on it, similar to Red's chain, as well as a bunch of stuff that would look like a bunch of junk to any random passerby. Red knew that nothing on the chain was junk, though. At least to Green it wasn't, and because of that, it wasn't junk to Red either. Despite how cold and distant Green always seemed, Red knew he had a sentimental side. Red had seen Green fiddling with the memory chain hundreds of times since the dog tags had been sent back home years ago. This time, it seemed to have something new on it. There was a small blue stone on the end, not unlike the pink stone that Red had gotten from his mom. He knew better than to ask about it though. Green was always extremely defensive about the chain, to the point of denying that any of the objects hanging from it actually meant anything.

Once they were all settled in the lab, Professor Oak led Red and Green into a side room. It was much more dimly lit than the rest of the lab and looked more like a Pokemon nursery than part of a laboratory. There were lots of berry bushes in pots and cushions meant for sleeping on. Along one wall was a table covered in Pokeballs, and on the other side of the room were three sleeping Pokemon. Red didn't recognize any of the three, so they must've been very rare.

"Yeesh Gramps, why's it so dark in here?" Green complained about the dimmed lights. Professor Oak turned a few on but not all of them.

"The lights in this room are extremely harsh, and the Pokemon find it hard to sleep with them all on," he went over to grab three of the Pokeballs off of the table and whistled to the three Pokemon. They each looked up at their own pace, a red lizard looking one with a flaming tail popping up like a firecracker followed by a blue turtle and finally a green froggish Pokemon with some kind of plant bulb on its back came lagging a bit behind. "Here, I have Charmander, Squirtle and Bulbasaur." Professor Oak motioned to each of them in the order they had gotten up. "All three of them are such rare Pokemon that it is currently illegal to capture them in the wild. However, these three were bred in captivity and as such, I am offering the two of you a choice from them. These little guys are part of an experiment that I'm performing with Professor Birch in Hoenn."

"Experiment? In what?" Green said while Red was looking at the Pokemon.

"That, you'll find out later. Now you two, chose wisely," was all the reply that came for that.

Green smirked, "I'm going to chose to be a proper gentleman and let the girl pick first."

"Hey, I'm not a girl! Either way, I've already picked which one I want," Red walked over to Charmander crouching down to the Pokemon's height. "Hi there Charmander. Do you want to be my partner?"

The Charmander looked up at Red in curiosity before jumping up onto Red's shoulder with a happy sounding growl.

"Any particular reason why?" the Professor asked, a bit surprised at Red's speed in choosing. Red was always so careful about things.

"I know that I was named for the color of the fierce fire type Pokemon that can burn all in their path. I've always wanted my first Pokemon to be a fire type to honor that," Red stood up, the Charmander holding tight onto his shoulder. The Pokemon was a lot lighter than Red had first imagined, and the tail flame was odd in that it didn't seem to catch anything on fire.

"Do you want to name her?" Professor Oak asked.

"Her?" Red looked at his Pokemon partner, unsure of how to determine the gender.

"Yes. Charmander and Bulbasaur are both girls, while Squirtle is a boy," Professor Oak gathered some stray Pokeballs that were scattered across the floor. "You should also take her Pokeball." he handed a Pokeball with a small flame on it to Red, who took it with the arm that wasn't currently monopolized by a Pokemon.

"Yea, probably a good idea. A name would be nice though. Hmm… would you mind if I called you Riza?" Red looked over at the small lizard. After a slight moment, she let out a cry of happiness to show that she liked it. Red smiled and tickled her belly a bit, much to her apparent joy. "Riza it is then."

"What about you, Green? Will you chose the Bulbasaur because it matches your name?" Professor Oak asked of his grandson. Green shook his head at that.

"I'd never pick my Pokemon for such a dorky reason. I'm gonna pick Squirtle, the water type. All the better to kick Red and Riza's butts with!" Green went over to pick up Squirtle, but then barely looked at the Pokemon before taking one of the Pokeballs from Professor Oak.

"Well then, that's a good choice too," the Professor smiled at his grandson, but it was more of a worried smile than anything.

"Yea, sure," Green looked down at the Squirtle. "I'm gonna call you Zeni." Green gave Zeni a little scratch underneath the chin.

"That's pretty cool!" Red exclaimed upon Zeni's naming. Professor Oak nodded before picking up a tray and bringing it to the two teenagers.

"Now for the next step in the process of becoming trainers. Here, I have your trainer cards, a few extra Pokeballs and the crown jewel of my work, the Pokedex," he held out the tray to Red and Green. Each Pokedex was in a color that matched their names, so it was easy to see which one was meant for which trainer. Each Pokeball was right next to a special belt clip, which made for easy and quick access during battle. Each boy picked up their items to examine, Green starting to clip the Pokeballs onto his belt and Red examining his trainer card. It was simple on the front, with just Red's own photo and six empty blank spaces where the pictures of the Pokemon he registered for the Pokemon League challenge would go. The back held a personal bar code that could be scanned to get basic information about him and his Pokemon. Red looked at his own picture compared to Green's and saw the stark contrast between the two. Where Red was smiling and bright eyed, Green looked like he'd rather be doing anything other than getting his picture taken. Until he could get his backpack, Red carefully slid the trainer card into his Pokegear case.

The Pokedexes were much more interesting than the trainer cards. Red's Pokedex was small and rectangular with a camera on one side and a button on the other. Clicking the button popped open a section with two screens and a few more buttons. It turned on automatically, showing a picture of a Bulbasaur on one screen and some info on the other. A button press pulled up another page that looked like it would have more info, but most of it was blank. Red went back to the list and used the navigational buttons to go further on the list. There weren't very many entries yet, only some sparse information on the three starters and a few of the local Pokemon living on route one.

Professor Oak cleared his throat, causing the two trainers to look up from what they were doing, holding their Pokemon tightly. He had a serious expression for once, so the two boys paid plenty of attention to the Professor.

"As you know, most of our information on Pokemon was lost years ago, during the Inter Regional War. Only now have we finally found a reliable way to recover and record the lost information," he held up another Pokedex, this one being yellow. "I need the help of you two and, once we find a way to mass produce the Pokedex, every new trainer that we can get. All you two need to do is catch several Pokemon from different areas to send back to me and other professors devoted to studying Pokemon. Once we're finished studying the Pokemon, they will be sent back to the wild, so there's no need to worry about that."

"So, how do we send them to you?" Red asked, clipping his Pokedex to his belt alongside the Pokeballs. Even Riza was listening, her weight moving forward a bit on Red's shoulder as she leaned forward to listen.

"We have an agreement with the Pokemon League, so you can both send them back to me through the PokeTransport system set up in the Pokemon Centers. Now, I'm counting on both of you to help me complete the Pokedex, alright?" Professor Oak looked at both of the trainers in turn.

"Sounds good, sure," Green said, nonchalantly. He was still studying his own Pokedex.

"I'll help for sure," Red said with a lot more heart in his words than his friend. "So the information on the Pokedex will become more complete as you study the Pokemon? Won't that give us an unfair advantage over other trainers?"

"In the beginning maybe, but once there's a decent amount of information, we'll create an online version of the Pokedex database that can be accessed from Pokemon Centers. Plus, as I said before, the Pokedex itself will eventually be mass produced for trainers. Right now, though, there are only seven of them, and three are in Hoenn, so you two have to be very careful," the Professor explained.

Red nodded at that. "This sounds like it might be fun too," Red shut off his Dex to avoid draining the battery. He wasn't sure how long it would last.

"You know what would really be fun, though?" Green's question made Red look over in curiosity. "Let's turn this into a competition! There's 146 Pokemon native to Kanto, right? Whoever catches all 146 first wins. Gramps is gonna need several examples of the Pokemon to study from anyway."

Before Red could answer, Professor Oak interjected. "Actually only 137 of those are actually catchable. Remember, these three and their evolutionary lines are illegal to capture in the wild."

"He's right. I read something about there being capture regulations planned for other rare species too, like Abra and Dratini," Red said. "But until then, 137 it is. I accept your challenge"

"Right. Let's make it official with a battle, then," Green challenged.

"Oh, you're on!" Red said, followed by an excited growl from Riza. The two boys ran outside, followed by their partners. "So what kind of moves do they know?"

"Why don't you find out for yourself? If you open up your Pokedex, there should be a larger, green button. It's function is to activate a scanner in the camera," Professor Oak pointed out the button as Red opened his Pokedex. Red pressed the button, pointing the camera at Riza. Immediately, information popped up on her moves, level, stats and ability. She was only level 5, so her stats were fairly low, and she only had three moves, Scratch, Growl and Dragon Dance. Red was pretty sure that last one was a breeding move, but he couldn't remember with which Pokemon. She had her hidden ability as well, Solar Power. It was clear that Riza, and probably the other two as well, were bred for battle.

"I'm gonna have to teach you Sunny Day at some point," Red rubbed her head. He was pretty sure Solar Power raised attack in strong sunlight at the cost of a few hit points each turn. It was good for faster Pokemon that didn't get hit a lot, but any battle had to be ended quickly.

"Are you ready yet? You're such a Slowpoke," Green called out, him and Zeni raring for battle.

"I'm ready as ever!" Red shouted back, "Riza, you're up!" Riza ran from his side out in the middle of the two boys. Zeni did the same, even without any command from Green.

"Zeni, use Tackle!" Green commanded almost immediately. Zeni responded quickly, leaving Red and Riza no time to react. The Tackle connected, sending Riza to the ground. The Charmander rolled back into a standing position, waiting for Red's command.

"Use Scratch!" he called out. Riza jumped up, onto Zeni and scratched at the turtle Pokemon's face with sharp claws. Zeni managed to turn his face a bit, but the attack still connected.

"Tackle again!" came the next command from Green, and it didn't take long for Zeni to launch himself straight into Riza again. The close distance worked in Zeni's favor, maximizing the power of the attack. Once again Riza was thrown, rolling over several times on the ground. Neither Pokemon was very strong yet, but neither of them had much stamina either, so Red had to be careful.

"Riza, come on! Get up and use Growl," Red could feel beads of perspiration dotting his forehead, as if he was the one battling alongside his Pokemon. Riza managed to pick herself up off of the ground and let looks a ferocious Growl attack just as Zeni went in for another Tackle. It caused the turtle to stumble backwards, as if in fear.

"Don't give in Zeni!" a grin made its way across Green's face, "Aqua Ring!" Zeni let a stream of water out of his mouth that condensed into three rings surrounding him. Red wasn't surprised, since, if Riza had some special breeding moves going on, Zeni would surely as well. Aqua Ring still made it that much harder for Red and Riza to win.

"Looks like we'll have to step it up a bit. Riza, use Dragon Dance!" Riza jumped up into the air and twirled around as the fire on her tail turned a greenish blue color and surrounded her in a swirling vortex of flame before she landed. "Go, use Scratch!" Red commanded before Green and Zeni could think of an appropriate response. Riza rushed at Zeni, who couldn't dodge fast enough to avoid the attack. Riza's sharp claws raked across Zeni's exposed skin, the damage heightened dramatically from Dragon Dance. The swirling rings from Zeni's Aqua Ring glowed blue briefly, showing that they were healing the Pokemon, but it wasn't much.

"Tackle!" Green cried out. Zeni charged forward but was once again no match for Riza's heightened speed. As the two duked it out both trainers called out alternating Tackles and Scratch attacks. Riza's attacks connected much more often than Zeni's did, with Zeni managing a hit when Riza stopped for a second to gloat. It had been enough time for the turtle to make a hit on the lizard, but Zeni's hit points were depleted.

"Riza, you alright?" Red shouted. Riza's response was a fierce growl aimed at Zeni. Red nodded. "Then finish him with Scratch!" Riza rushed to hit Zeni one last time, sending the turtle flying into Green. They both fell down into a tangled heap.

"Zeni is unable to battle. The victory goes to Riza and Red," the Professor called out. Both members of the winning team jumped up for joy. Red's first ever Pokemon battle, and he had won it. He grabbed Riza from the ground and hugged her tightly.

"Good job!" he congratulated the Pokemon as she let out a triumphant growl. Over on the other side of the makeshift battlefield, Green stood up with a fainted Zeni in his arms.

"Well, you sure won't win next time. We were just going easy on you," Green claimed. "Next time, we'll win for sure."

"Yea, but before you go off and concoct your elaborate revenge scheme, you should heal Zeni. Riza took quite the beating too, so I'm sure she'll like getting healed too," Red suggested. Green recalled Zeni to his Pokeball, and Red did the same with Riza so that the Professor would be able to heal the two Pokemon. Red could see through the red cover of the Pokeball to the inside, where Riza sat suspended in the middle. She was a lot smaller than she was outside of the ball. Red had always wanted to know how they worked, especially so the Pokemon could see into the outside world through the translucent cover. Red was also pretty sure that she could also hear sounds that came from very close.

Everyone went inside, and Professor Oak took the two Pokeballs, placing them in a machine. "This machine uses similar technology to the machines the Pokemon Centers use to heal basic battle damage. It doesn't work on anything worse than that, however, so you two be careful." he switched on the machine, and both Pokeballs briefly glowed before the machine was finished healing the Pokemon. Then, Professor Oak handed them back to their respective trainers.

"There you go, good as new. Remember to send any Pokemon you don't plan on adding to your personal teams back to me through the Poke Transporter, alright?"

"Of course! Now I'd better get back to my mom. She's gonna want to meet Riza and then see me off," Red sent Riza back out of her Pokeball, the Pokemon emerging in a puff of flame and white energy. He imagined it was probably cramped inside of the ball, so he'd carry her home on his shoulder.

"Smell ya later, Red," Green waved before going out the door, presumably to his own house, where he lived with Professor Oak and his younger sister.

Red was soon to follow, making his way back home. On the way, he pointed out landmarks to Riza, not that there were many in a town as small as Pallet Town, but he wanted to share with his new Pokemon. He felt buoyant, as if there was a balloon inside of him. It was probably his excitement about finally being a Pokemon trainer. Soon enough, he'd have a full team of six on his journey to beat the Pokemon League. Red and Riza got back to Red's house fairly quickly.

"See this place? This is my house. I've lived here for fourteen years, but today I'm finally gonna go out on a journey across Kanto," Red said to his partner. She looked up at the house. It was a smaller one, since Red's mom had to support herself and two children on her own, but at least it wasn't a bad place to live. Thankfully Satoshi's medical expenses were taken care of by the Pokemon League, due to him being injured while on his own League challenge. That was to help prevent the League from being sued by the parents of injured trainers on their challenges. At least that's what Red's mom had said. With a determined look on his face, Red brought Riza into his house for the first time.

"Mom, I'm back!" he called upon entering the house.

"Shush!" she came into the room, "Your brother is still asleep, and is that your Pokemon?" her tone completely changed upon seeing Riza perched on Red's shoulder.

"Yep. Mom, this is Riza, my Charmander. Riza, this is my mom," Red introduced the two to each other.

"Awww, so cute. I assume this means it'll be goodbye for awhile. I always knew you would go off on a great Pokemon adventure, just like your father," she teared up a bit, like she always did when she talked about Red's dad. It was obvious she missed him.

"Yea, but we'll be back to visit! We'll call too. Every day," Red tried to reassure his mom, with Riza's growls to help him along.

Red's mother nodded. "I know you will. Be safe, ok? We don't want a repeat of what happened to your older brother," she knelt down to give Red a tight hug. It felt to him like she was never going to let go. It wasn't until Riza cried out from being smothered as well that she finally let go. "Are you going to visit Satoshi in Viridian City?"

"Yea. I can introduce Riza to Jolt and maybe see if they made any progress with Satoshi," Red replied. Jolt was Satoshi's partner, a Raichu. The electric mouse hadn't left Satoshi's side in three years, displaying the incredible loyalty that Pokemon show to their trainers. It was kind of sad really.

"Alright then. Call at least when you get to Viridian. Goodbye Red," she waved him toward the door, not truly wanting him to leave.

"Bye mom. I'll see you later," Red turned to the door, both excited and sad to be leaving. He wouldn't see his family for a long time. But next time he did, he would be so much stronger. Red left the house with Riza. They made their way back to route one. It looked exactly the same as earlier in the day, but this time was different. This time, Red could finally walk into the tall grass without fear. He could finally leave Pallet Town for the first time in his entire life. Red stood before the route, looking up at the sign that held the route name.

"Are you ready, Riza?" he asked of his partner. She nodded on his shoulder, looking out over the tall grass. With a deep breath, Red took his first step into the tall grass. He was finally a Pokemon trainer.

* * *

Green was taking his time in going out to route one, unlike Red. He had Zeni following behind him with a curious look as the two strolled up the street to the local cemetery. It was a much larger cemetery than people would expect for a town as small as Pallet. Most of the gravestones were small and unassuming. Despite its size, it was quite the opposite of grand. Of course, there was a reason for its size. War. Pallet Town had provided an abnormally high number of soldiers during the years long war between regions. Among them were Red's father and both of Green's parents. Sadly, many of the soldiers from Pallet hadn't been prepared for the terrible war, and very few had come back alive. Red's father had been cremated, his ashes spread along Victory Road. Green's parents, however, were buried together with their partners. That's who he was here to see.

"Hey mom. Hey dad," he said as he came up to their gravestones. Normally, he put on such a cold front, but here, where there was no one to see but Zeni, that all broke down. He sat down, amber eyes scanning the gravestones like they had a million times before. Each gravestone had a name, a birth date, a death date and the names of each of their Pokemon. The death dates were nearly a year apart, with his father's being so near the end of the war. Green's father had been so close to making it out. Of course, the army hadn't been very quick on the uptake, and Green and his grandfather hadn't gotten news of either death until the war had ended. Zeni climbed onto Green's lap, curiosity turning into concern.

"Yea, these are my parents. I wish they could've lived long enough to meet you. You would've loved them," Green scratched Zeni's head. The teen looked at the yellow stone that was now on his memory chain. He'd found it lying on his mom's grave earlier that morning. He had no clue who put it there or what it was for, but he knew that it was meant for him somehow. "We're gonna beat the Pokemon League. We'll become Champion, right Zeni?" the Squirtle nodded in reply. "We'll become the strongest team in the world." Green got up with fire in his eyes. He wouldn't let anyone stand in his way. Not even his closest friend.


	3. Chapter 3

Red smiled as he walked along route one. It was a beautiful place, and most of the Pokemon were fairly easy to beat, especially compared to their first battle with Green and Zeni. That is, except when they Pokemon tried to gang up on them. Riza had nearly been defeated when a whole group of Pidgey had swarmed the two of them after they'd accidentally stumbled off of the route and into some nesting grounds. Luckily, Riza had just been healed, and she even learned Ember while trying to figure out how to hit more than one Pokemon at once.

"You ok now?" Red asked the small lizard Pokemon. Red had fixed her up with some potions, but what they really needed at that moment was a trip to the Pokemon Center. It was too bad that Viridian City was still more than a day's walk away.

Riza gave a nod of confirmation from where she was once again perched on Red's shoulder. Red had decided to leave her out of her Pokeball for the walk to Viridian City just due to the sheer number of wild Pokemon encounters they had. It became easy to quickly gain a lot of experience, but it did become rather repetitive after awhile, fighting the same Pokemon over and over again. Red had already caught a Pidgey, a Rattata, a Caterpie and a Wheedle for Professor Oak. Red had locked their Pokeballs just in case he caught too many. Trainers were only allowed to have six available Pokemon with them at a time. By this point, Red was kind of sick of those sorts of Pokemon and didn't want to add any of them to his personal team.

He continued to walk along the route. The ground seemed to be equal parts tall grass and dirt path, but it was all uneven, and there was no telling how big some of the grass patches were. Despite his temporary dislike of the Pokemon in the area, Red made it a point to walk in the tall grass as much as he could, at least when Riza was up for battles. The little Charmander was nearly as aggressive as the wild Pokemon they met. Oftentimes, the grass wasn't even an option. It covered across whole areas, and Red didn't want to try and find his way around them, lest he get lost outside of the route. A few minutes of walking later the two of them came up on another patch of grass. This time, they ran into the first human they'd seen since they left Pallet Town. Literally ran into him. The kid had been crouched down in the tall grass where Red couldn't see him, so Red ended up tripping over him.

"Oops. I'm so sorry about that," Red said, pushing himself back up. Riza was standing next to him, having bailed from her position on his shoulder when he'd fallen.

"Oh, hey, that's ok. You couldn't see me. Easy mistake," the other kid stood up. "I'm Joey."

"My name is Red. Hey, I haven't seen anyone else all day other than wild Pokemon. You up for a battle?" Red asked. It would be refreshing to fight a trained Pokemon rather than a wild one. Joey seemed to be a bit older than Red but not by so much that he would be far outside of Red's skill level.

"Sure, that would be fun," Joey pulled out a Pokeball as Riza jumped between them, accentuating a battle stance with a growl. He tossed the ball, revealing a Rattata.

"Alright then, Dragon Dance, Riza," Red immediately called out. Beginning battles with that particular move had become habit, as Riza's heightened speed made it harder for enemies to hit her.

"Ratters, use Tackle!" the youngster said as soon as the green and blue flame cleared from around Riza. She was caught unprepared coming out of a move and took the Tackle full force. Red made a mental note to train her to be more prepared for things like that. After the Tackle, though, Ratters didn't land a single hit. Riza was more than fast enough to handle herself. It took a few Embers to whittle the Rattata's hit points down completely, as Ember wasn't a move that got powered up by Dragon Dance. Red only used it because he thought a more long ranged strategy would work better. Soon enough, the battle was over, with Riza the victor.

"Good job Riza!" Red called, letting the small lizard crawl back up his arm and onto his shoulder.

"Dang it. I was sure I'd found someone I could beat. You just have that new trainer look about you. Guess that's what I get for being a casual trainer," Joey grinned, pulling some money out of his pocket and handing it to Red. "Here's your winnings."

"I get money for winning Pokemon battles?" It seemed there were a few things that Professor Oak had forgotten to tell Red before he'd started his journey.

"Wow. You must really be a new trainer if you don't know about that. It's the unwritten law out and about the world of Pokemon trainers. For some, it's the main source of income as well as acting as incentive for us to battle each other instead of just wild Pokemon," Joey explained. He didn't seem to be all that perturbed by losing.

"Oh, that makes sense. Thanks for the explanation," Red said.

"No problemo. Always happy to help a fellow trainer," Joey waved to Red with a grin and then went back down into the grass, seemingly searching for something.

"Well he seemed nice," Red said to Riza as the two walked away. The Pokemon nodded in agreement, swishing her flaming tail around. Red wasn't entirely sure how she didn't set anything on fire like that, but Red was extremely happy that she didn't. That way, Red didn't have to intrude on her happiness at defeating another trained Pokemon. The two continued on, battling wild Pokemon and occasionally other trainers for the next few hours. Even though most of the route looked the same, Red could tell that they were making progress by the signs on the side of the route. If they kept it up, they could easily make it to Viridian City the next day. Despite how much progress they made, Red could tell it was getting dark. The sky was overcast with grey clouds, blocking the sun, but Riza's tail made a noticeable glow in the space around it. He hoped it wouldn't start raining. From the little information Red could find in the Pokedex, he'd found out that a Charmander would die if its tail went out. If it rained too hard, Riza would be confined to her Pokeball. The two of them came upon a slight forested area near the side of the route.

"Hey Riza, what do you feel about stopping here to make camp? We can grab some dinner and then some rest. Might do you some good, since you've been battling all day," Red suggested. Riza nodded, giving a tired cry of agreement. Red was tired too from all the walking and helping out Riza. He noticed that with the way their Potions stash was going, they'd really need to restock in Viridian City.

Red walked a little ways to get to the side of the path, underneath the trees. After Red put down Riza, he pulled a sleeping bag out of his backpack. Riza made a slightly confused sound at how Red could pull something so large out of a space so small, until Red showed a sphere that looked similar to a Pokeball.

"You see this sphere? It's built like a Pokeball, but it's for items, not Pokemon. That way, I can fit more items in a smaller bag," Red explained before putting the sphere back inside, along with the other camping supplies. Each Item Sphere was labelled so that Red knew what was in each one. Earlier, Red had seen another new trainer having trouble trying to find the right Sphere because the poor kid had forgotten to label them. Red was glad to avoid that problem. As Red was getting the camping supplies ready, Riza went around to gather sticks for a fire. It was a smart move considering it was April. It could get pretty chilly at night. After a few minutes, Red noticed Riza starting to get further away, concentrating hard on her task.

"Hey Riza, can you come back? I can't see very well in the dark," without Riza's light close by, Red realized how dark it had actually gotten while they'd been walking. Immediately, Riza came running back, bundles of sticks in her small arms.

"Thanks a lot. Just put them right down, and I'll start arranging them," Red pointed at a spot on the ground. The little Charmander set the sticks down in a tangled pile before sitting down to groom herself. Red took a second to finish up with the sleeping bag and pillows before turning to arrange the sticks into something at least vaguely resembling a teepee. He set some rocks around it just in case. "Riza, Ember!" he called out to his partner, who shot a few Embers at the sticks to ignite them. "Thanks little guy." Red pulled out some wrapped sausages from his bag to roast over the fire. He was pretty sure Riza was a carnivorous Pokemon, and he figured real meat would be yummier to her than Pokefood. Based on Riza's response, Red was right about that. The two of them had fun, roasting sausages and Red telling stories about himself and his brothers from when they were kids. Red had Riza keeled over in mirth with tales of the escapades the three of them got into when they were all little, even telling some that involved Green as well. It kept getting even darker until the fire and Riza's tail were the only sources of light. Occasionally, there was a flash of lightning followed by a crack of thunder, but it hadn't started raining yet. Red prepared Riza's Pokeball, though, just in case. Soon, though, they heard a crashing noise coming from somewhere that definitely wasn't the sky and a shout of pain. Red eyes snapped over in the direction that it had come from, but he couldn't make out much of anything in the thick darkness.

"Can you stay here and watch the fire? I'm going to go check that out. If it starts raining while I'm out, I want you to go into your Pokeball," Red grabbed a flashlight and placed Riza's Pokeball next to the fire. She would be able to go in any time by touching the capture mechanism in the front of the ball. He stood up and walked out into the route. The beam the flashlight cast in front of Red lit up the area in front of Red but not for very far. Old fears about going into the tall grass alone crept around the back of Red's mind like ghost Pokemon, but he reassured himself with the fact that Riza was within shouting distance, and Red did have other Pokeballs he could activate if he really had to. It wasn't long before Red could hear pained groans coming from in front of him. Red started to go a bit faster, quickly coming upon a person who seemed to have their leg trapped underneath a fallen tree branch. There was a fallen bicycle off to the side.

"Holy crap, are you ok?" Red rushed forward to help.

"Out of all the people on this route I could've crashed near, it had to be you," came a very familiar voice.

"Yea, love you too Green," Red said sarcastically. The shadows cast by the flashlight had obscured his friend's face. With a heave, Red tried to lift the end of the branch, managing to shift it slightly.

"Ow, ow, ow, that hurts!" Green groaned, making a face. Red shone the flashlight at him for a second, and his eyes went wide. There were cuts and scratches all over Green's face and arms with one particularly bad one running along his right arm. It was oozing blood at a rather alarming rate.

"Dang it… gotta get you out of here. Can you bring out Zeni? He might be able to help," Red asked. Green merely nodded and brought out the small turtle Pokemon. Upon seeing Green's state, the Pokemon seemed very alarmed. Red explained to Zeni that he needed help shifting the branch, and together, they set to slowly moving the branch, bit by bit. Soon, it was moved just enough for Green to pull his leg the rest of the way out. He let out an earsplitting screech as the small branches and twigs raked across his legs, leaving a multitude of scratches and scrapes, some of which were also starting to bleed.

"Dammit…" he muttered. "I don't think I'm gonna be able to stand." Both boys looked up as rain began to fall from the sky. Green recalled Zeni back into a Pokeball, which prompted Red to hope Riza would remember to go into her own ball. "What are you staring at?"

"Oh, I just left Riza out of her ball to watch the fire. I know her species doesn't really get along with rain," Red replied. He went over to haul the bicycle up. If Green wouldn't be able to walk, then it might be possible to bring him back on bike. Thankfully, it was all intact. "Hey, we might be able to get back to camp together if I bike and you hold on behind me. We'll be a bit top heavy, but I can manage it," Red adjusted his hat to keep most of the rain out of his eyes. Being able to see would probably be helpful.

"You've gotta be kidding me," Green really didn't like the sound of that idea.

"Do you have a better idea?" Red sent a look in Green's direction, but it was lost in the darkness.

"Not really. Alright you win. Help me up," Green extended his arm towards Red, who took it and pulled the taller boy up. Green grimaced, and despite all of his efforts, a pained groan escaped him. At least he was standing, even if it was just on one leg. Red pulled his friend over onto the bike with him, wishing that he spent more time on his physical health. Green had always been the more physically fit out of the two of them, and it was taking a toll at that moment. It was a tight fit, seeing as the seat was only meant for one person, but they managed it. For a brief second, Red could've sworn Green's face had gone as scarlet as his own eyes. Probably just a trick of the dark. Red shone the flashlight out in front of them and pushed off, struggling to keep both of them upright as he pedaled. As he'd suspected, the bike was extremely top heavy with the both of them on it, but it got easier as Red went faster. The trip back to camp was much shorter than the trip out to find Green, and they made it back just as the drops began to fall even harder. The lightning and thunder hadn't let up either, and it brought to mind the night of Satoshi's accident.

Once they got back, Red saw that Riza was still out of her Pokeball, with a large leaf over her tail. It seemed that she'd taken then instruction to guard the fire to heart. Red pulled Green off the bike and helped him to the ground. He swore he could hear some kind of whooshing noise nearby, almost like the flapping of wings.

"Did you hear that," Red asked, scooping up Riza to protect her from the rain.

"Hear what?" Green's voice was pained.

"It was probably nothing," Red started to set up a tarp over the fire, which was sizzling badly in the rain. It wouldn't last long if he didn't do something.

"If you say so Redsie," Green used Red's embarrassing childhood nickname, causing Red to actually go as scarlet as his own eyes.

"Can you not?" Red searched for his first aid kit in his backpack. It should've been in the medicine pocket, but he couldn't find it for some reason. It was frustrating, since Red needed to do something about Green's wounds, especially the one on his arm. Green had gone quiet and was rather pale. Blood was soaking his shirt, as he was holding his arm to his stomach. It honestly wasn't a very good look on him. He looked so much weaker than the strong trainer that Red knew. "Dammit!" Red exclaimed, frustrated.

"Never knew you to have that sorta mouth on you," Green grinned weakly. He was trying to keep the mood light and make it seem like nothing was wrong. However, he wasn't doing so well in that regard.

"I can't find my first aid kit," Red explained digging furiously through his bag.

"Calm down Short Stuff. Check in my bag. I have one too," Green suggested. Red was about to respond when he heard the flapping sound again. He turned around to try and pinpoint the sound only to get a Spearow in his face. He heard shouting from where Green was as well. Red threw up his arms, accidentally dropping Riza onto the ground in an attempt to stave off his attacker. Heat flared in front of Red, and the Spearow dropped out of the air. The small group was surrounded by a whole flock of Spearow, with Riza and the now free Zeni trying to stave off the birds attacking the group. Red's arms and face stung, covered in thin scratches from the Spearow's beak and talons. Even the Pokemon were already showing bloody wounds, something that wasn't supposed to happen in battle. It made Red worry, since Pokemon usually didn't fight to kill unless they were hunting or protecting young.

"We've gotta get out of here!" Red shouted, dashing over to Green. He had to hold his arms over his head to keep off other Spearows that managed to get through Riza and Zeni's defense. A few flew over to the immobile Green, but Red waved them off, standing defensively over his friend. As soon as he was sure they weren't in any immediate danger, Red slung Green's arm over his shoulder and pulled the taller boy into a standing position. Green grunted but didn't say anything. It seemed that the Spearow were mostly focusing on the two Pokemon that were defending the humans. Good for Red and Green but not for Riza and Zeni. They began to walk to where the bike had been deposited. "Right now, our best chance is to make it all the way to Viridian City before the flock can do anything drastic. We can't take on all of them, and it doesn't look like they'll be leaving anytime soon," Red was mostly talking for Green's benefit, to keep him focused, and it seemed to be working. Just as Red and Green made it to the bike, though, two Spearow attacking Riza had grabbed her by her arms and lifted her into the air, biting and slashing with their beaks.

"Riza!" Red shouted to his Pokemon. She was helpless in the rain, barely able to keep her tail ignited. With a heave of his free arm, Red threw a Pokeball flying in the direction of one of the Spearow. The sudden disappearance of one of the Spearow caused the other to drop the sudden extra weight, its talons carving deep furrows in the Charmander's arm. "Riza, Zeni, to me!" Red shouted, having to merely hope that the two Pokemon were in a good enough state to make it to the two teenagers. He could only focus on one thing at a time, and Green was his first priority. They managed to get back on the bike as Riza and Zeni both made it, Riza lagging behind slightly. While Zeni hopped up onto the handlebars, Red had to grab Riza and deposit her on his shoulder. As soon as the two Pokemon were settled, Red pushed off and pedaled with all his might, getting into motion before the flock could regroup. It wasn't long before the flock was flying after them. Having forgotten his flashlight, Red had to rely on the dim orange glow from Riza's tail as she tried to find a place where it wouldn't get wet. Zeni was focusing on keeping the birds off of Red and Green, firing off several Bubble attacks to keep away attacking Spearow. Red only had one hand on the handlebars, so he could use the other to grab Riza and hold her inside of his jacket to protect her flame. Occasionally, he had to let go of Riza briefly to wave off a Spearow or two that had gotten past Zeni. He could feel Green's arms tightly around his middle and Riza's claws digging into his stomach. They were still there, still holding on. Red had to focus on getting his friend and his partner to safety. Thankfully, the storm seemed to be keeping away most of the random encounters, so Red was able to ride through the tall grass without getting in any more trouble than they were already dealing with. It was a small relief in the whirlwind of trouble the storm and Spearow flock were causing.

Flashes of lightning lit up the night for fractions of seconds, but between them Red had to rely on intuition not to go the same way Green had earlier. Riza had her head poked out of Red's jacket, calling out whenever he needed to turn. She was able to see what he couldn't with her superior night vision. She even warned Zeni of Spearow coming in behind him. At least Red wasn't freezing in the rain, with Riza's heat warming him up. He couldn't imagine how bad it was for Green, who was hurt and cold and having to hold on for dear life. Red was determined to get everyone else out of the situation. Lightning split the night again, illuminating the huge flock that was following them through the coursing rain that struck them like bullets. Red's arms and legs were burning from overexertion and he was getting tired. Despite how far they'd made it, he knew he wouldn't be able to keep going for much longer. As if in response to those thoughts, a rock came up in front of them. Riza hadn't seen it in time, and even as she cried for Red to swerve around it, they were already going over. Red completely lost control of their momentum, all four passengers being tossed off of the bike. Red landed on his side, still holding Riza tight, but Green lost his grip on Red and rolled over in the mud with shouts of pain. Red pushed himself up, preparing to battle the whole flock with Zeni, seeing that Green wasn't really in much of a battling state. He looked over to where Green had fallen and saw that the other boy wasn't getting up. That wasn't good, but Red was determined to get both of them out alive. He wasn't going to have a repeat of what happened to Satoshi.

"Zeni, you still up for battle?" he asked the turtle Pokemon, who nodded in response with a battle cry to accompany. Red could tell that Zeni, was tiring though. The Pokemon's movements were slower than before, and the cry wasn't nearly as loud and agressive as it could've been. He wouldn't last long against the entire flock of Spearow. With Red behind him, Zeni fought valiantly shooting Bubbles and Tackles at the multitude of enemies. Soon, he was overwhelmed. Just as Red was beginning to lose hope, he heard voices shouting from off to his right, and saw flashes of lights in the dark. Someone was coming to help.

"Only a little longer!" Red shouted to Zeni, who was quickly losing ground. Green still hadn't gotten up. A yellow lightning bolt streaked diagonally through the flock of Spearow, different from the lightning that arced from the sky. It was a Thunderbolt attack. An Ice Beam, and an Air Slash followed it, and Red turned to see a Raichu, a Dewgong and a mega evolved Pigeot enter the fray, helping to fight off the flock. Several adults and older teens in the typical garb of Pokemon Rangers rushed around the tired and hurt group. A few more battling Pokemon came with them. A younger looking girl with curly brown hair turned to Red.

"Are you ok?" she asked.

"I'm fine, but you've gotta help Green. He's badly injured," Red pointed to his fallen friend. The girl nodded and went to check on Green. It wasn't long before the Rangers had beaten off the attacking Spearow flock, prepared as they were with healthy Pokemon, many of which had supereffective attacks. Once they were all finished, a few Mega Pokemon went back to their normal states, resting on the ground from the exertion of the Mega State. The girl from before was helping Green to his feet, and the other Rangers had come in to check on the Pokemon.

"Now how in the name of Arceus himself did you lot get into such a rut?" an older man with a beard and a gruff voice asked. He had a Probopass floating alongside him, a rare sight in the Kanto region.

"It was my fault. I disturbed their eggs by accident when I crashed my bike," Green said weakly from where he was sitting up now. He didn't look any better than Red felt. Red wouldn't be surprised if they both got sick after that night. "I didn't know so many of them would attack…"

"Well, now you know. Spearow live in extremely tight knit communities. If you mess with one of them, all of them are gonna go after you," the girl explained.

"What matters now is that you kids are safe. Though, we'd better get you all to the hospital if that's going to stay that way," the Probopass man said. Thankfully, like most medical facilities in Kanto, the one in Viridian City was a combined hospital and Pokemon Center. It just made sense to do it like that. It was to save space and money, as the healthcare in Kanto was government run. They were usually only separate in huge cities, like Goldenrod City, where there would be multiple hospitals and Pokemon Centers anyway.

Red took a second to sit down, not caring that the ground was wet and muddy, since he was wet and muddy anyway. He just wanted to take a break for a second and revel in the fact that he was not going to end up in the same situation as his brother, or even worse. Red and Green were going to make it to Viridian City.


	4. Chapter 4

Pools of light beamed from the windows of the Pokemon Lab as Blue waited patiently in the torrent outside. She'd been waiting for a very long time for this moment, and she wasn't planning on slipping up. There was no way she was letting this chance pass. The rain was soaking, but Blue needed to stay right where she was to keep watch on the windows. She needed to wait until all of the lights were off, so she would know that all of the scientists had gone home for the night. At least the rain would keep her awake until she needed to go in.

Finally, after hours of hiding in the bushes outside of the lab, Blue saw the last of the lights in the building shut off. Scientists shuffled out with multicolored umbrellas, one of them much more frantic than the rest for some reason. Blue waited until every single one of them was gone before she went to make her move. She wasn't taking any chances. As soon as all of the scientists were out of sight, Blue began to sneak over to the main door. It was probably too much to hope that it would be unlocked, and that sentiment was proven correct when she tested the handle. It wiggled, but it didn't move all that much. She'd have to try a window or side door. However, a quick circle around the lab showed that the side doors and windows were all locked as well. It seemed that the scientists had all thought ahead against thievery. Figuring there weren't many other options, Blue picked up a decently sized rock and threw it as hard as she could at one of the back windows. The window cracked, but it didn't immediately shatter. Blue had to throw two more rocks to finally shatter the window. She would have to be really careful climbing through to avoid cutting herself.

Apparently, she wasn't careful enough, and she cursed as she dropped to the floor inside. She'd gotten two cuts, a deeo one on the palm of her hand and a much shallower one on the outside of her thigh. She took a mostly clean rag from a pocket in her bag and bound it tightly around her hand. It would have to do until she was finished with her task. She'd have to work quickly, though, as blood was already starting to soak through it.

Blue cast her gaze around the darkened room, trying to get an idea of where in the lab she was. It looked like some sort of storage room. There were boxes full of lab equipment and microscopes along a shelf on one of the walls. Blue went forward and tried the door to the closet. Surprisingly, it opened out wide into the main lab. Apparently, with all the outside doors locked, the scientists hadn't felt the need to lock the inside doors. That was their fatal mistake. Now, all Blue needed to do was find where Professor Oak kept the Pokemon waiting to go to trainers and steal one of them.

She made her way through the lab, looking into various side rooms as she went. After awhile, she made it to what vaguly looked like it could be a Pokemon nursery. Bingo. Annoyingly, the room seemed fairly empty of Pokemon. That was mildly frustrating, but she knew there were a few teenagers who had turned fourteen recently. There had to be Pokemon here, unless they'd already left on their adventures. It was way too early for that. She searched in all the nooks and crannies of the room, hoping she would find a Pokemon. Finally, she found it. Sleeping in the darkest corner of the room was a single Pokemon. It was green and reptile like with a large bulb on its back.

"Hey there," she said crouching down next to it. It opened its eyes looking up at her with curiosity. She guessed that it hadn't been sleeping very soundly. "Lonely, aren'tcha?" In response, it let out a forlorn cry. This Pokemon really was lonely. There weren't any others to keep it company. "Well then, do you wanna come with me?" she asked. The Pokemon looked up, happiness sparking in its eyes. Blue grinned and picked it up. It looked like the Pokeball was on a nearby table. She picked that up as well.

"I'm going to put you in your Pokeball, at least until we get out of here. It's storming pretty badly outside," Blue told the Pokemon. It nodded, and she pressed the button on the front of the Pokeball, recalling the Pokemon. The last thing she needed to do was find out what species it was. She placed the Pokeball on her belt, positioning it so that the Pokemon could see where they were going. Then, she ran back out into the main lab, preparing to make a mad dash to the Pallet Town Pokemon Center when she noticed something across the room. She stopped and went over, observing the strange, blue colored device. It looked to be a Pokedex. They weren't commercially avalible yet, but everyone had seen Professor Oak on TV, displaying the prototypes. It had been made known that there were only seven in existence so far, and they were almost in complete working order. Something like this could really give Blue an edge over other Pokemon trainers. With sure hands, she nabbed the Pokedex and pulled the Pokeball with her Pokemon back up.

"Let's see if this thing works, little guy," she said to the Pokemon, opening out the Pokedex and pressing the scanner button. Information on the Pokemon's species came up, identifying it as Bulbasaur, a grass and poison type Pokemon. It was also apparently female. "So that's what you are… hm… I'll call you Fushi. How do you like that?" Fushi looked happy in the Pokeball at her new name. Blue smiled and put the ball back on her belt. She ran back to the storage closet she'd come in through and vaulted back out through the shattered window. With that being the only trace of her presence in the lab, the Pokemon thief ran out into the dark night, smirking all the way.


	5. Chapter 5

The sun was rising, as the group of rangers escorting Red and Green to Viridian City finally came up to the outskirts of the city. It was all farms and fields in this area The bearded ranger with the Probopass, who Red had learned was named Kevin, held up his hand.

"We'll stop here. I've already called ahead, and Officer Jenny is going to meet us here," he said to everyone else. Red was glad for a break. The rain had stopped during the night, but everyone was still soaked and freezing cold. It was still a long walk to get to the hospital, so a rest would be good. Kevin spoke again. "Officer Jenny is going to bring Green and Red's Charmander to the Pokemon Center, so that they get there faster than we could take them."

Red sat down on the ground, cradling a sleeping Riza in his arms. He knew the best option was to put her in her Pokeball, but he'd lost it in the storm when the Spearow had attacked. He was just glad to see that her flame was bright again. She wasn't in the best condition, but at least she wasn't in danger of dying anymore. Red looked over at Green, who was being set down on the ground. The rangers had set up a makeshift stretcher for him out of a spare sheet because his leg looked pretty awful. The pants sleeve had been rolled up, and Red could see dark purple and blue bruises all over, with the worst of it being around his ankle. It was also pretty swollen, looking to be about twice its normal size. All that wasn't even the worst part, as broken bone covered in brown, drying blood could very clearly be seen poking through the skin. It all worried Red. He knew that Green's injuries were severe, and he wasn't sure what it would take to heal his friend. The doctors probably knew what to do, but he became less sure as he thought of what had happened to his brother.

"So what made those Spearow attack like that? Usually they don't do that unless you mess with their nests, especially if they were trying to injure you all badly like they did," Kevin asked Red.

"I'm not sure. I don't think it was anything I did, but it's hard to be sure," Red kept throwing sideways glances at Green, making sure his friend was ok. It seemed he'd been able to fall asleep somehow.

"Alright then," Kevin went back to doing whatever rangers typically did. Before long, the sound of a motor vehicle reached the ears of the group. "That must be Officer Jenny."

Red saw Green shuffle uncomfortably in his sleep when the noise came. It looked like the movement disrupted his leg, as he jolted awake with a shout and a series of rather creative expletives. Red walked over with a bottle of water switching Riza over to just one arm. She squeaked as he moved her but stayed asleep. There wasn't as severe a need for attention for her, but Red was still worried about the Pokemon.

"Are you ok?" he asked, handing Green the bottle.

"Of course I'm not ok! I have literal bone poking out of my fucking leg!" Green's hand was visibly shaking as he held the water bottle to his mouth, spilling some as he drank.

"Well Officer Jenny is just about here," Red said as a police car came up to the group from the direction of the city. The Officer climbed out of the driver's side, looking around for Green.

"I'm here for the injured boy and the Pokemon," she said as Red came over with Riza.

"Here's the Pokemon. I'd have her in her ball, but I kinda lost it," Red held up the Pokemon for Officer Jenny to see. The Officer's face immediately took on a concerned look.

"How long has this Pokemon been in this condition," she asked.

"Hours ma'am, but Green is worse. Over here," Red rushed back to Green, who had already finished the whole bottle of water. As Officer Jenny followed, Red could've sworn he saw her turn slightly green.

"We've gotta get him in the car," she turned to the rangers. "A few of you, help me lift him." They rushed over to help her, and they all lifted Green up in the makeshift stretcher. Soon, Green was strapped into the back seat of the police car, and Officer Jenny came back for Riza. Red handed the small lizard Pokemon to the Officer. Her ability to sleep was very impressive, as she hadn't woken up during that whole exchange. Battling the Spearow alongside Zeni must've really tired her out. With a nod, Officer Jenny went back to the police car.

"I'll make sure your friend and your Pokemon get to Viridian City safely," she said before getting in. Before long, the police officer had left with the two very in need individuals.

"Oh, I hope this turns out ok," Red whispered to himself. He had a hard time now worrying about the others.

"Don't worry about it kid. Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy know what they're doing. Green and Riza will be spick and spam in no time," Kevin said, clapping Red on the back with quite a lot of force. Red gasped, his breath knocked completely out of him.

"Yea, I guess. I should make my own way to Viridian City. With any luck, Green and Riza will both be better by the time I get there," Red forced a grin. He didn't much feel like talking anymore, which was really strange for him. Being the Pokemon nerd that he was, Red was often spouting some useless information, but it seemed like he'd finally run out of words to say. It was like when Satoshi had been put in the hospital, and Red didn't want to make that particular connection at all. Green hadn't been hurt nearly as badly as Satoshi had three years ago. A broken leg was a cakewalk next to getting struck by lightning after all. At least that's what Red tried to convince himself.

"We'll be getting back to base now. Do you have any other Pokemon?" Kevin wanted to make sure that Red would be safe the rest of the way without his main Pokemon.

"Er… uh… yea, I think so," Red looked in his bag and rifled through the Pokemon he'd caught so far. He needed one that would be strong enough to hold its own against multiple enemy Pokemon, so a bug type probably wouldn't be a very good idea. Or at least a bug type alone. He could use multiple Pokemon, but he felt it would be easier to keep track of just one. Making a final decision, Red grabbed a Pokeball containing a Pidgey. "Here. I'll use this one."

"You seem to have quite a lot of deactivated Pokeballs," Kevin noted.

"Yea, I'm helping Professor Oak with some research. So most of these are guys I was planning on sending to him," Red reactivated the Pokeball containing the Pidgey.

"Well, at least you've got someone to protect you," Kevin nodded. "Well, bye. Hope you get to Viridian City alright. You're a good kid." he turned to leave, waving along the rest of the rangers with him. As they all left, Red let the Pidgey out of the Pokeball.

"Hello there," he said, a bit quieter than he usually was. The small Pokemon hopped around a bit before looking up at Red. Red pulled out his Pokedex to see what kind of moves the Pidgey knew. It seemed the only moves she knew were Tackle and Sand Attack, but he was pretty sure that she would learn Gust in a few levels. Red nodded before holding out his hand towards the Pidgey. Unlike Riza, Pidgey just looked at him with confusion. "You can come on my shoulder." he added. With that addition, Pidgey happily hopped up his arm and onto his shoulders. He winced slightly, as her talons were a lot sharper than they looked. Red made sure that Pidgey was all settled before setting off to traverse the rest of the route before they properly reached Viridian City.

* * *

It had taken Red hours to find his way around Viridian City, and the health center was overrun by nurses by the time he and Pidgey finally arrived. All that made him worry a bit. He knew the storm had been bad the night before, but surely not that many people had been hurt. Either way, it did not bode well. He went up to the line for the main desk to see Nurse Joy. After a little while, it was his turn to talk to her.

"Hey, what's going on?" he asked.

"The storm last night. Reckless trainers all over the place getting their Pokemon hurt. It actually isn't as bad as it looks. Do you need anything?" she explained.

"Yea, my Pidgey. She needs to be healed," Red held up Pidgey's Pokeball, and she peeked out a bit at him and the nurse. Joy nodded and took the Pokeball. "Also, did an amber haired boy and a Charmander come in recently?"

"Amber haired boy and a Charmander… yes, a Pokemon and a boy of that description came in earlier this morning. Green Oak and a Charmander named Riza," she said.

"Yea, that's them!" Red perked up slightly.

"Do you know them?"

"Riza is my partner Pokemon, and Green is my friend. We were all attacked by a flock of Spearow last night. Are they ok?" Red asked.

"I'm going to need to see some proof of ownership of the Pokemon. Do you have the Pokeball?" Nurse Joy handed Pidgey's ball back to Red as she spoke.

"Er… well…" Red wasn't sure how to explain losing Riza's Pokeball as he let out Pidgey, who was good as new. The small bird came out in white light and a puff of feathers as she flew up to sit on Red's head.

"I can vouch for him,"

Red wheeled around to see Officer Jenny behind him.

"The Charmander does belong to him?" Nurse Joy was making sure everything was all set.

"Yes. He claims to have lost the Pokeball, but the Pokemon is definitely his," Officer Jenny confirmed.

"I'll go retrieve her then. She's been fully healed from whatever her ordeal was last night," Nurse Joy went back to find the Pokemon.

"So, you're finally here. I'd almost given up on you ever showing up," Officer Jenny said with a joking tone

"Well, I'd never leave Green and Riza like that. They're my friends," Red said defensively having completely missed the joking part of the joking tone. Pidgey tweeted furiously from on top of his head, already ready to defend him at any cost. Red reached up to pet her feathers and hopefully calm her down. Pidgey tended to be quite loyal to their trainers when compared to other bird Pokemon.

"Don't worry. I was just kidding around with you. You seem like a good kid. Well, I'd better be off. Criminals to catch and all," Officer Jenny walked back out of the Pokemon Center with a small wave. Nurse Joy came back before long with Riza in her arms looking as rejuvenated as Pidgey.

"Riza, you're ok!" he said happily.

"What were you doing out with a fire type in a storm like that anyway? Don't you know that it's dangerous?" Nurse Joy scolded as she handed back Riza. The small Charmander cried in joy and let out a small burst of flame at seeing Red.

"We didn't have a choice. Green and I were attacked by this huge flock of Spearow. I didn't have time to reactivate the other Pokeballs I had," Red saw Nurse Joy's eyes flick up to Pidgey. "I wasn't able to let this Pidgey out until the storm was over, and Pokemon rangers had chased off the Spearow." he stroked Riza's smooth skin similarly to how he'd pet a Pokemon with fur or feathers.

"Alright then. Now, you said you have a friend who came here too? Green Oak? I'll send one of the other nurses to check on him, alright?" Nurse Joy accepted the explanation easily. Pokemon trainers typically didn't have much reason to lie unless they were part of the mafia or something. "Just take a seat in the waiting room. Another nurse will come to update you on his condition." Nurse Joy said with a smile.

"Thank you," Red said with a smile before going to sit in the waiting room. "So Riza. You feeling better?"

Riza nodded and let out another small flame that was succeeded by a cloud of black smoke. Red coughed a bit, waving it away. It looked like she was close to learning Smokescreen, which would be a very helpful move. He'd need to register her moves with the Pokemon League before he'd be able to start taking on gyms. It was a second before Red realized that Pokemon Centers were the places to do that.

"We've gotta go sign up for the gym challenge, Riza," he said, standing up abruptly, sending Pidgey scrambling. He'd forgotten that she'd nested in his hair. "Oops sorry." Thankfully, she didn't seem all that upset. By this point, Red actually wouldn't mind adding her to his team permanently, despite not wanting a Pidgey earlier the day before. She'd already proven herself in battle, and she seemed to have a decent personality. As he walked to the PCs, he decided to ask her.

"Hey Pidgey. Do you want to join my team permanently? I know you're tough, so it would be good having a Pokemon like you," he said. By her excited flapping about, Red thought that she agreed. "Alright, then I'm gonna give you a nickname. How about Piyo?" she chirped happily at that as well. "Well that's good. I'm gonna have to recall you for just a second to make it easier for us to register." Red returned Piyo to her Pokeball. He logged onto the PC he had chosen and went to the sign up for the Pokemon League Challenge. He put in all the necessary information before placing Piyo's Pokeball into the scanner. All her information appeared on Red's newly created profile. Annoyingly, he'd have to enter all of Riza's information manually. He'd have to go all the way to Saffron City to get her registered to a new Pokeball. It was annoying, but the only Pokemon Centers with that capability were in Saffron. Red took a second to enter Riza's information before letting Piyo back out. He figured it would be easier to bond with his Pokemon if they were out of their Pokeballs.

"There. All done," Red said, pulling his trainer card out of a slot on the PC. Now, pictures of Riza and Piyo were on the card next to Red's picture, but the other four spaces were thankfully left blank. Now all he needed to do was send the other Pokemon he'd caught back to Professor Oak. An easy task, since the Pokemon Center had a transporter exactly for that. Once he was all finished, he went to sit back down. Red took a moment to relax, letting the warmth from Riza's flame seep through him. Since he was still rather damp from the night before, it was a welcome comfort.

"Red?" someone called out his name. He looked up to see one of the nurses and immediately went back into high gear, seeing as she was the one who had been sent to check on Green.

"Is he alright?" Red jumped up, once again accidentally displacing Piyo from his head. "Oops, sorry…"

"Don't worry about a thing. Your friend will be up and ready to go by tomorrow," she assured Red. He let out a sigh of relief at that. Green was going to be ok. He didn't know what he'd do if something terrible had happened.

"Thank Arceus," he sat back down, which gave Piyo the chance to flutter back up to his head. Her feathers tickled his face as she flew up. It seemed that was where she had made her home. "We'd all better get some sleep, then. Is there a rate to stay here for the night?" Red knew that only some Pokemon Centers charged for rooms, but he wasn't sure of which ones.

"We do, but you'll be able to get the trainer discount. First night is free, but any after are 100 Pokeyen each," she explained, pulling a huge keychain out of one of her many pockets. "We have a few rooms open. How about third door on the left?"

"Yea, that would be great. Thank you," Red grinned at the nurse as she handed him a room key.

"If you have your room key on you, you can also use your trainer card to get into the room," the nurse finished explaining before going back to the main desk where Nurse Joy was. Red went up the stairs in the back of the lobby to go to the second floor where the available rooms would be.


	6. Chapter 6

Red woke up to someone knocking at his door. With a grumble, he slowly rolled out of bed. Everything seemed blurry and distorted. He was still so tired despite how long he'd probably slept.

"Mom, I did the laundry yesterday!" he shouted at the door as he tried to get his bearings.

"Last time I checked, I wasn't your mom weirdo!" Green's voice came through the door, leaving Red wondering why Green was in his house for just a second. Then, Red realized everything that had happened in the two days since they had left home, also remembering that he was not at home but rather in a rented room at a Pokemon Center. He looked up to see Riza curled up in the bed still and Piyo perched on the headboard before yet again going to fly onto Red's head. She seemed to like it even better now because he wasn't wearing his hat yet.

"Right. Viridian City. I'll be in a second," Red mumbled at the door. He slowly picked himself up off of the floor and walked into the bathroom. It was shared with the room next to him, but the other room was empty. Looking into the mirror, Red saw how much of a mess he was. Dark circles under his eyes, limp hair falling across his face, scabbed over cuts and scratches covering his exposed face and arms. He hadn't even remembered to change into some pyjamas before dropping into bed.

"I look like crap," he muttered to himself, though Piyo nodded in agreement. "Hey! I wasn't asking for your input!" at that, Piyo flew to the pole holding up the shower curtain with a chirp of mirth. "Hey Riza, is my hat in there?" there was a growl in response, but Red wasn't sure whether it meant yes or no. "Alright then. I'm gonna take a shower, so don't come in unless you absolutely have to." he called back out, turning on the shower. He'd leave the door open in case his Pokemon needed something, but at least the door to the hallway was locked. Red was in and out of the shower as fast as he could, so he wouldn't leave Green waiting too long. He was just in time, as Green started getting impatient and banged on the door just as soon as Red had finished getting dressed.

"I'm coming!" he called, grabbing his hat and shoving most of his spiky, black hair up underneath it. He grabbed his bag and picked up Riza before going to get the door. Once again, Piyo found her way onto his head. Then, out of the room they went to see an annoyed Green standing just outside. He had his right pants leg rolled up still, and his leg was splinted tightly, but the rest of his wounds seemed to be mostly healed. The bad one on his arm had already scarred over, courtesy of whatever amazing healing prowess the nurses and doctors had.

"Finally, you've arrived. You look like Hell. Did Giratina get to you or something," Green smirked.

"I could say the same about you," Red shot back. Riza and Piyo both cried in defense of Red.

"Yeesh, can't you keep those two in their Pokeballs?" Green started walking back to the first floor, and Red scrambled to keep up. How could someone who had broken their leg the night before move so fast.

"I don't have Riza's ball. If I remember right, I was too busy saving your sorry butt to remember to grab it," Red grumbled.

"Don't remind me. My first day as a trainer, and I colossally fuck up. I shudder to think of what Gramps will see. He's counting on me," Green made a rather unpleasant face. He had rather unreasonable expectations of himself at times and tended to worry about how his grandfather would react.

"Us. He's counting on both of us. I don't think it'll be as bad as you think. Professor Oak is pretty laid back," Red tried to reassure his friend, only to get a death glare in return. "Anyway, why did those Spearow attack? Cause I don't think it was because of anything I did."

"Nah, that was definitely me. I think I knocked a nest over when I ran into that tree. Not my best moment," Green admitted.

"Seriously? Not your best moment? You nearly got us killed!" Red said with an exasperated tone.

"But we didn't die, did we?" Green said cockily while also managing to almost fall down the stairs.

Red caught up with him, "Well, if you aren't careful, you're going to get yourself killed." The two of them made their way to the PCs again to hopefully make a call to Professor Oak. Neither was sure if the professor would actually pick up, since he was often busy with research or field work. It was rather annoying when people were trying to get ahold of him, especially if one of those people was Green.

"Pick up old man!" Green cried out on their fourth try. Piyo and Riza were both perched on top of the PC, watching the two boys attempt and fail to get ahold of Professor Oak. Red could tell that Riza was amused, and Piyo was trying to figure out what was happening.

"Calm down, he's probably just busy. If you want, I can try on the Pokegear," Red tried to calm his friend, who was prone to explode at inopportune moments. Thankfully, as he said that, an image popped up on the screen. Professor Oak had picked up the call.

"Hello? Oh, Green! Red! You two are all right! You can't believe how worried I was when I got a call from the hospital. On your first day as a trainer too. I'm immensely relieved that you didn't go the way of Red's brother," Professor Oak went on and on like he usually did, much to the chagrin of both teens.

"Yeesh, calm down Gramps, I'm fine," Green grumbled, looking ever so slightly relieved. Red knew he wouldn't admit to it, though. He was too proud for that.

"Are you sure?" Professor Oak got really close to the screen.

"Dammit Gramps, stop that," Green grumbled.

"Language, young man," Professor Oak scolded Green, who rolled his eyes, easily falling back into his usual mood. "Anyway, I've been meaning to warn you. There was a Pokemon thief rooting around Pallet Town last night in the rain, but they've gone towards Viridian City by now. Be careful, alright?"

"We will Professor. Speaking of Pokemon, did the ones I sent arrive?" Red asked. He just wanted to be sure.

"Yes they did. Quite a lot of Pokemon from route 1 I see. I'll be waiting for some more bug and grass types from Viridian Forest, alright?"

The two boys nodded, Piyo finally going back to Red's head. It looked as if Riza had gotten annoyed and pushed her off the top of the PC.

"Oh, I see you've caught a Pidgey. And a friendly one at that if she's perching on your head," Professor Oak said, able to tell that Piyo was a female just by looking at her. "What about you Green? Do you have anyone to show me?"

"Yea, I caught a Pidgey too and a Rattata. I haven't thought of names yet, though. Especially after this dork named his Piyo. I was too busy focusing on that name that I forgot to think of some of my own," Green said trying to reach up to ruffle Piyo's feathers. What he got instead of soft feathers was a swift peck to the hand. "OWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW! What the f- heck?"

"That's what you get for messing with my partners. Anyway, we should probably get going soon. I've still gotta visit Satoshi, and there's a gym here in Viridian too," Red explained.

"We'll kick the gym leader's butt for sure," Green said cockily.

"Well, I'll be rooting for you," Professor Oak looked like he just remembered something. "Oh, I should be getting back to my work. The Pokemon are getting restless. Be careful, ok?"

"We will Gramps. You worry too much," Green waved off the concern. Professor Oak nodded before hanging up the call.

"That went well," Red said.

"Are you mocking me?" Green glared at his friend.

"No,"

"If you say so," he had a suspicious tone, but accepted the answer nonetheless. "So, we gonna go find the gym?" Green got up from the chair, stretching out his arms. He was wearing a tank top, so every single scar on his arms from the night before were clearly visible. It was an impressive number, probably because he'd been the main focus of the attack the night before.

"I have to go visit Satoshi, though," Red said, trying not to stare at the scars.

"Right, I forgot. I'll go by myself then. Meet me at seven by the gym?" Green suggested.

"Sure. easy enough time," Red grinned at his friend.

"Alright then. I'll bet that by the time you next see me, I'll have my first badge," Green turned his back to leave the Pokemon Center. "Smell ya later!"

"Bye Green," Red rolled his eyes as Green left. He really seemed to love that phrase, even though it was kind of dumb in Red's opinion. Green had picked it up from a cartoon they used to watch, though for the life of him, Red couldn't remember what it was called. Riza looked at him with a curious expression as he stood up and turned towards the main desk. "What's wrong?" She made a strange chirping noise, kinda like Piyo but also kinda different, looking at the door. Red smiled at that. Riza just kept getting more and more adorable. "Oh, I'm going to visit my brother, Satoshi. He's in here somewhere. It'll be the first time I really get to see him because my family never really had much way to get across route 1 with a whole bunch of people. It would be hard for Lucky to protect all of us." Red referenced his mother's Meowth, who had arrived soon after Satoshi's accident.

Red made his way to the front desk once more. It wasn't nearly as busy as it was in the morning, and he didn't have to wait in line for nearly as long.

"Hello again, I see you've gotten yourself rested. What do you need now?" Nurse Joy said as he came up.

"Yea, do you know what visiting hours are? I'm Red Tajiri, and I'd like to see my brother, Satoshi please," Red replied, pulling out his trainer card for her to see.

"Visiting hours are until eight o'clock. Satoshi Tajiri, correct? He'll be in the coma ward. Just follow the signs, and it shouldn't take you very long. I'll inform the nurses that you're coming," Nurse Joy said, typing a few things into her computer and handing Red a visitor pass.

"Thank you," Red took the pass and went into the visitor entrance to the main part of the hospital. He looked down at his visitor card, which contained Satoshi's room number. Room 221. It seemed that the coma ward really was near the front, since it didn't take him long. He knew that they kept a few patients in each room, so he prepared himself to see other people in there if there were any. After a second, he pushed through the door into the room. Despite his mental preparation, there actually wasn't anyone in the room other than the three coma patients that he could see. Before long Red was proven wrong when someone bowled him over, causing Piyo and Riza to both abandon ship.

"AGH! Who?" Red looked up to see a Raichu wearing one of Satoshi's old hats sitting on his chest. "Jolt? You've gotten big. Lemme up, you're heavy." Red tried to push Jolt off of his chest but the Pokemon merely grinned before jumping off on his own, accidentally brushing Red's cheek with his lightning bolt shaped tail, giving Red a nasty static shock. "OWOWOWOW!" Riza growled at Jolt when Red showed his distress.

"Wait, Riza, he's safe," Red pushed himself up, rubbing his cheek. He was lucky not to have gotten burned by Jolt's high voltage. Thankfully, there was almost no current in Jolt's shocks, so they usually weren't lethal. A nurse looked in through an open door.

"Looks like someone forgot to warn you about Jolt. He's a feisty one. Refuses to leave Satoshi's side either," the nurse said with a grin on his face. He'd covered his hair with a pink bandana rather than one of the hats the other nurses wore. "Are you here to visit someone?"

"Yea," Red replied, looking up at his older brother. It had been three years since they'd seen each other, but Satoshi looked smaller than last time he'd been awake. It was like Satoshi hadn't aged at all since he'd fallen into his coma. The nurse noticed Red's mood drop and left him to be with his brother.

"Hey there Satoshi. I finally came to see you. Isn't that great?" Red sat in one of the chairs set up next to Satoshi's bed. He didn't know if his comatose brother could hear him, but it was worth a shot. Red looked out around the room again. The room was very minimalistic, containing mostly just the beds and life support for the patients, and a few tables and chairs for visitor use. One of the tables had a vase of flowers on it, but Red wasn't really sure what kind they were. Despite how long he had looked out over the room, he purposefully avoided looking at the other patients. He didn't want to see people like this, broken and small being held onto life with shoestrings and hope, especially his older brother, but missing Satoshi was pretty much impossible.

"How's it been? I finally got some Pokemon…" Red said, gesturing for Riza and Piyo to come up. The two came up into Red's lap looking over at Satoshi. "These guys are my partners. You'd really like them. They're pretty cool." He pet both of them, the motion of moving his hand across skin and feathers calming and repetitive. He took a deep breath, finally looking back at Satoshi's expressionless face. It hurt so much to see him like this, but the sight filled Red with determination. He would succeed in his quest in honor of his brother who could not. Riza made her chirping noise again reaching up to Red's face. She wiped beneath his eyes, her hands coming away wet with tears that Red didn't even know had begun to fall. He hadn't cried in a long time, but he thought that if he was going to cry, around Satoshi would be the time to do it. Red squeezed Riza and Piyo tightly, earning a squawk from the latter. Unlike Piyo, Riza snuggled in, trying to wrap her tail around Red. The fire was warm, but it didn't burn.

"Thank you," he whispered to the Pokemon. Through everything they did, he knew they would be there for him. He loosened his grip slightly, allowing Piyo to wiggle out and fly up to his head, grooming her feathers with her beak. Then he turned back to Satoshi.

"You should've seen what happened last night," his voice was stronger now that he'd gotten most of his pain out of his system. He could focus more on how peaceful and quiet the room was. "Green ran into a tree like an idiot and got his leg broken. Then we were attacked by a huge group of Spearow. We were lucky we didn't go the same way you did really." Red realized that he kept saying last night or the night before when he didn't even know what time it was. It probably wasn't the next day at least, since the sun was still pretty high in the sky, but it would still be nice to know what time it was. A quick glance at the clock showed that it was four in the afternoon. His eyes widened upon seeing the time. Since he'd gotten there at sunrise, it had probably been about 5:30, and then he'd gone to sleep at 6. Now, it was almost 6 in the afternoon. He'd slept a long time.

He stayed sitting in the room for quite awhile, listening to the beeps and boops of the machines keeping his brother alive. It was nice to rest near Satoshi. This was the first time in three years the two had been in each others' presence after all. It astonished Red how much things had changed since that night.

"I've gotta go now. Promised I'd meet Green near the gym," Red finally said. Jolt looked up from where he'd curled up next to the bed. He'd been quiet the whole time, recognizing Red's need for peace and quiet.

Red stood up, but he hesitated to leave. Who knew when he'd be able to return? He almost couldn't make his feet move to the door, but he knew he couldn't stay forever. A small squeak from the ground caught his attention. Jolt was standing next to him, holding a small, silver ring. The Pokemon was holding it up as if he wanted Red to take it.

"Is that Satoshi's?" Red held out his hand, bringing it up after Jolt placed the ring in his hand. With a shock, Red realized that he knew this ring. It had been their father's, passed down to Satoshi after his death. Satoshi had brought it with him on his adventure, as he wanted the ring, and by extension a part of their father, to be with him through his journey. That had never ended up happening when Satoshi's accident cut his journey short. The family had thought it was lost in the accident, and Red had no clue how Jolt had gotten ahold of it.

Now, it seemed it was Red's turn to carry the ring. He turned it over in his hand, brushing his fingers over the thin designs etched onto the surface. They were stylized designs of an Arcanine and a Ninetales, both of which had been their father's most trusted Pokemon partners. On the inside was an inscription. Akira Tajiri, their father's name, followed by the names of all four of his Pokemon in much smaller font. Without another word, he slipped the ring onto his chain alongside the dog tags and the pink stone. He would bring the ring all across Kanto, his father's spirit watching over as he challeged the League. Red's goal was to become the champion of the Indigo Plateau, and that's what he was going to achieve.


	7. Chapter 7

The sun had begun to sink quite low into the sky by the time Red finally left the hospital. The first streaks of pink and orange were slowly painting their way across the sky from where the sun was sitting in the west. Riza, curled up tightly in Red's arms, let out a small growl as the sunlight struck her. It had almost sounded like a purr, more of a feline sound that could come from a Meowth or a Delcatty than a reptilian one from a Charmander. It made Red grin to think of a strange thing like that. It was frankly adorable. As per usual, Piyo was comfortably resting in Red's hair. He'd decided to go hatless for the day because of her, providing a more comfortable nest than his hat would be.

"Brr. It's a bit chilly, isn't it? That's April for you," Red said to his Pokemon, shifting Riza to his left arm so that he could try to grab a light coat from his bag. He had to be careful balancing both Pokemon as well as his bag in a way that no one would be dropped. Once he actually had his coat, it was much easier to put it on. Just a bit of shifting Riza around was involved. Sure, he could've just stopped and put Riza down to do that, but she seemed so content, and he didn't want to disturb her. Thankfully, the chill wasn't so much that it took away from the beautiful day. The high up clouds were nice and puffy, there was just enough breeze to stir the cool, crisp air and there weren't so many people that the streets were clogged. Red knew that it was different in the middle of the day, when people were all out and about. Even with all the beauty around, it still wasn't enough to lift Red's mood completely. Satoshi was still in a coma in the hospital after all. Red wouldn't cry anymore- the time for tears had passed long ago- but he also couldn't help certain morbid thoughts that wanted to flit through his mind, unwanted for sure but never leaving. They overshadowed many of his other thoughts, leaving him to wonder if he'd ever see his brother awake and whole again. It had been over ten years since they'd lost their father, but it would still be devastating to lose someone else. He instinctively brushed his hand over the ring hidden under his shirt on its chain. Along with Akira, two of his Pokemon had died. Only his closest partners, Arky and Mystic had survived. They'd barely made it home themselves, and Mystic had died soon after coming home

Riza seemed to notice Red's crappy mood and let out a chirping sound of concern, burrowing a bit beneath his jacket. It hadn't even been a week since they'd met yet, and already fierce loyalty twinkled in her blue-green eyes. It made Red wonder what he'd ever done to deserve Pokemon like her and Piyo. The more devoted they were, the more Red wanted to return that loyalty and devotion, being a trainer that they could rely on for trust, love and comfort. After all, without the Pokemon, a trainer was nothing.

"I'm fine. Don't worry. Just a bunch of thoughts flying around is all," Red responded to Riza's concern. He scratched underneath her chin a bit, and she gave her purr-like growl again. All curled up like she was, it was hard to imagine the immense power that she carried.

As Red was walking, he came to a rather stunning realization. He had absolutely no idea where the gym was. Having to juggle his Pokemon around again, he carefully pulled his town map out of his bag. It was a traditional paper map as opposed to the Pokegear map that most of the people he knew used, and the maps for larger cities unfolded outwards to prevent users from having to flip back and forth between the various pages. Of course, none of that helped him when he tripped on some stray garbage and nearly fell on his face trying to pull the damn thing out, but it did have its uses. The alarming almost fall did cause Riza to let out a shrill chirp, almost painful to the ear. It was an intentionally attention grabbing sound. That and some other clues had led Red to believe that the chirping meant Riza was in some sort of distress, whether it be fear or concern or some other emotion.

"Sorry Riza," Red held onto his partner more tightly, hoping his grip wasn't too tight. He didn't want to hurt her at all. Then, he zipped up his bag and held up the map in front of him, flipping through the pages to the back where Viridian City was. The cities and towns were in alphabetical order to make it easy to find the right ones. Red was able to see quite a few of the other cities on the way. As huge as Viridian City seemed, it was practically a dwarf compared to most of the other cities. Navigating the next few, Pewter and Viridian Cities, would be even harder.

"Huh. Looks like the gym is relatively close to here. Makes sense considering we're near the Pokemon Center," Red said, wheeling around to walk in the complete opposite direction he'd been going because he'd apparently picked the wrong way when leaving the Center.

Behind the page the map was on was a factoid page of some sort, detailing tourist information, trainer tips, some history and just some general facts too. They had the gym leader listed. Apparently, he was a mysterious man by the name of Giovanni. No last name given. He specialize in Ground-types. Maybe not the best idea for a first gym, considering that Riza, Red's strongest Pokemon was a Fire-type. Then again, the next two were rock and water and wouldn't be any easier. At least Piyo could withstand Ground-type attacks. He turned the page, seeing a picture of Giovanni, and immediately had to stifle a laugh. With that tacky orange suit, it was a wonder he wasn't the laughingstock of Kanto. Then again, he looked almost like he belonged in the mafia, like Team Rocket. Maybe that's how he kept a good reputation, with his intimidation. After all, there was no way the League would actually hire a Team Rocket member to be a gym leader.

It wasn't long before the gym, and with it Green, came into Red's view. The other trainer was looking at the door, the fading sunlight lighting up his caramel colored hair with golden light. Red's hair was the wrong color to do something like that, not that he'd want to stand out like that so much. Once he got close enough, he could see that what Green was looking at was some sort of sign hung on the door.

"What's going on?" Red asked, feeling Riza stretch up her head to get a better view. He grinned at the thought that Piyo probably had the best view of anyone in the small group, and she had most likely fallen asleep. She wasn't moving or making any noise, and that typically meant she was sleeping.

"Gym's closed. Stupid gym leader is on vacation or some bullcrap," Green grumbled, his pseudo self censoring from Professor Oak's constant shouts for Green to mind his language still shone through. Zeni was out of his Pokeball, stomping around with an expression that perfectly matched the angry expression on Green's face. Maybe the saying that Pokemon tended to take after their trainers had some meat to it. Red decided to put down Riza, who dashed off to say hi to Zeni, but Red could tell that she was keeping watch on him out of the corner of her eye. She was a very diligent partner.

"Well, that sucks," Red said, watching the two Pokemon play together. They rolled around like balls all over the ground.

"You bet it does. To have a badge this early? I'd be way ahead of the other trainers!" Green was obviously upset about that, which confused Red a bit. There were sixteen other active gyms in Kanto and one that was in the inspection stage, and there was at least one in less than a weeks walk from Viridian.

"Just try the Pewter gym, then. The leader there is Brock, right? A Rock-type user. You'd sweep that gym easily with Zeni and a bit of training," Red suggested. That gym was not going to be fun for Red. Both of his current Pokemon were weak against Rock-types, and neither of them had moves that would work very well against Brock's Pokemon.

"Sure, and be at the same level as all the other trainers coming from Pallet Town when we get to Pewter City. No one ever thinks to stop at the Viridian gym," Green grumbled, crossing his arms in a grumpy way.

"I think that's just us actually. No one else in our age group decided to be a trainer. Something you'd know if your head wasn't always in your butt. Why is the badge so important this early anyway? You've barely had any training," Red was as confused as a Psyduck in a rodeo.

"You're such a Pokemon nerd, and you don't know what a badge does? What kind of lame nerd are you?" Green shouted.

"Well, I'm a Pokemon nerd. That and League nerd are two different things," Red said defensively.

"Badges are a sign of power and authority. Stronger Pokemon are more likely to accept trainers with more badges, and they strengthen the bond between Pokemon and trainer. I think it was something about the material or some jazz like that I guess. How do you not know this stuff?" Green was obviously just rattling off memorized facts for the first part of that, his voice full of incredulousness. Red shrugged, feeling Piyo stir in his hair. It seemed she had woken up and was now trying to fix her 'nest' or something.

"I missed the intro classes back with Professor Oak when we were eleven, remember?" Red mentioned the classes that Professor Oak had held every few years for kids who wanted to be Pokemon trainers. They'd been held just a few weeks after Satoshi had gotten into his accident. At the time, Red's mom had forbidden him and Flare from even thinking about going on a Pokemon journey for almost a year. Thankfully, she'd come to her senses eventually and allowed Red to go on the promise that he wouldn't do anything too dangerous. Of course, that promise had already been broken, though unintentionally.

"Riiiiight. Forgot about that. Your mom was looney when we were eleven," now it was Green's turn to shrug. "Doesn't matter now, since I just told you about the badges anyway."

Red was about to answer when Riza was sent tumbling into Red's knee. He winced a bit, feeling a burning sensation before she pulled away to go after Zeni, and her flame went with her. Zeni's expression was anything but apologetic for that. Red leaned down to look at it, wondering why the flame burned all of a sudden when it had never hurt before. Usually, her fire was only warm. Thankfully, it wasn't very bad. It was barely pink, but there was some shine to it. It burned obviously, but it wasn't the worst thing he'd ever felt. It would be easily fixed once Red could get his hands on some Rawst juice. Green didn't even seem to notice, but Riza turned around and did. She chirped loudly and waved her tail as she saw the burn, and an embarrassed look crossed her face as if she hadn't meant to do it. Red was confident that she hadn't. She would never hurt him intentionally.

"Hey, it's ok. It's just a small burn. I'll get some Rawst juice for it later. We need to stop at the Pokemart anyway," Red assured his partner. She still looked worried, so he reached out to scratch her head. It seemed to calm her quite a bit. "It's barely as bad as a cooking burn from a hot pan."

"You two are so cute that it's sickening," Green said as he fake gagged. He seemed to have finally notice that Red had been burned.

"You be quiet," Red shot back, his face turning as red as his name suggested. What was so weird about him comforting his Pokemon partners? What was actually weird was how Green always knew exactly what to say to get on Red's nerves. It was like the taller trainer was psychic or something.

"Hey, it's none of my business what you do in your spare time," Green smirked at Red, knowing how much of a bother he was being. He had crossed over from annoyingville to the realm of deliberately antagonistic. It made Red wonder why in the world he was friends with the jerk. Probably because he was Red's only friend at the moment.

"What are you insinuating?" Red was up to his ears in burning heat by this point. Green really needed to shut up soon.

"I'm not insinuating anything you dork. Anyway, up for a battle?" Green's abrupt change of subject left Red speechless for a second.

"Sure, I guess," the slightly shorter trainer took a second to clear the fuzz out of his brain. "I mean yea! I'm in."

"Alright. Two on two, ok? Don't wanna give myself an unfair advantage. You'd have no way of winning then. Come on. I think there's a park behind the gym," Green grabbed Zeni and dashed off around the side of the gym.

"You're going to be the death of me," Red grumbled, then taking a second whistle for Riza he turned to follow his fellow trainer. The Charmander climbed up onto Red's shoulder, small claws digging into his shoulder. The fire on her tail aggravated his burn slightly as she passed over his leg, even with it being much cooler than before. The trainer and his Pokemon followed Green into the wide field behind the empty gym. It definitely looked like a well maintained park, with grass that was cut short, a fountain spraying water full of rainbows into the air and a thin sidewalk path that went around the fountain and off into some trees. There were benches and lights as well, but they were further off, the patch of grass Green and Red were standing in being mostly unmarred.

"Two on two! No substitutions!" Green called out, already sending out his first Pokemon, "Kora, you're up." A Rattata came out of the Pokeball in a burst of white light. A small purple rat Pokemon, Kora acted much fiercer than he looked.

"Guess you're raring to go, then. Piyo, you up for a battle?" Red responded. Piyo, who was an eager battler despite being an avid sleeper, flew out of Red's hair and onto the field, taking a strand or two of Red's raven hair with her sharp talons, "Ow…" Red hoped that being a Flying-type would give Piyo an advantage over Kora, even though the fact that Piyo only really knew two moves remained clear in his mind.

"I'll take the first move. Kora, use Quick Attack!" Green called to the battle ready Pokemon. Kora responded smoothly to the order with an attack that Piyo wasn't fast enough to dodge. The bird's reflexes just weren't on it, and Kora was already halfway there before she realized what was happening. Before long, Kora had returned to his original position, while Piyo was tumbling over onto the ground, leaving a feather or two behind. She'd taken a direct hit.

"Are you ok?" Red called to his Pokemon, who promptly righted herself. "Alright, back in the air. Use Sand Attack to blind him."

Piyo flapped her wings and flew up easily before diving down to throw broken down clumps of dirt into Kora's eyes with her talons. Though the attack was called Sand Attack, it didn't always utilize sand, merely whatever current terrain was available. Kora was left trying to scratch dirt out of his eyes while Piyo hovered above him, bobbing up and down in the air.

"Tackle!" Red called out the next order quickly, hoping Piyo would be able to take advantage of Piyo's temporary blindness. Completely meeting Red's expectations, Piyo tackled Kora with full force. The Rattata was sent flying through the air, twisting around and trying to see. The way he tumbled through the air gave Red a bit of an idea, but before he could try to implement it, Kora hit the ground. His purple and cream fur stuck out everywhere, and there were places that looked like they would be bruises in the morning.

"Keep alert. Use Focus Energy, and then Tackle," Green said, calling two attacks at once. It didn't seem like much, but that was the precursor to a rather advanced skill known as attack chaining. Some of the top trainers in the world planned entire sequences of attacks before battles, so that their opponents wouldn't be able to anticipate what they were going to do.

Kora listened to both commands, starting his Focus Energy up first. It was a move that would attune him to Piyo's weak spots, allowing him to get critical hits on her much more easily. That wouldn't be good, especially once Sand Attack wore off.

"Piyo, try to get him back into the air before he finishes," Red called to Piyo, who responded easily. The bird flew towards Kora, beating her small wings hard and strong and sending gusts of wind towards the rat like purple Pokemon just as he was about to use Tackle. Kora resisted the wind for a second, but he couldn't withstand its force for long and was knocked head over heels towards his trainer.

"Wait, that Pidgey is level nine already?" Green said, recognizing the attack. Red did too, having checked what the next few moves his Pokemon would learn were earlier in the day. It was Gust, a move typically learned around level nine, like Green had said. Of course, there was a bit of leeway considering the level system was a fairly new and imperfect system, but it gave a general idea of how strong a Pokemon would be at times.

"Must've been all the trainers I had to battle to get to Viridian City. Riza is level nine too," Red explained, taking stock of the combatants. Since Kora knew Quick Attack, he had to at least be level seven. It seemed Green had been doing some training too.

"Well, it would've been nice to know that earlier. Doesn't matter now. Use Tail Whip," Green called the command out to Kora, who leapt up and smacked Kora with his tail. "That's not how Tail Whip works!"

"Gust again," Red called. No matter how Kora used Tail Whip, it would still have an effect on Piyo's defenses. Piyo, with a boost to her already prodigious confidence, beat her wings through the air again. The strong gust of wind battered against Kora. He was ready this time, so it didn't quite send him flying, but it was certainly plenty enough to send him flying.

"Dammit, Kora use Quick Attack," Green shouted, prompting Kora to rush towards Piyo, white energy trailing behind him like a strange banner.

"Piyo, meet it with Tackle!" Red called out. Piyo managed to fling herself at Kora just in time, and both Pokemon were flung away from each other. Piyo was breathing heavily and was still in the air, though laboring to stay that way. In comparison, Kora was slumped on the ground, clearly knocked out. Piyo instinctively flew away from her knocked out opponent.

"Kora? Dammit. Well, Zeni will be a lot tougher. He is my first Pokemon after all," while Green recalled Kora back to his Pokeball, Zeni ran out onto the battlefield, eager to do battle with Piyo.

"Piyo, are you good to keep going?" Red asked the Flying-type Pokemon, feeling Riza lean forward on his shoulder to get a better view now that Zeni had come into the fight. Piyo warbled her affirmative as she circled high above the battlefield.

"Zeni, use Pound," Green called out. The Squirtle jumped up into the air towards Piyo.

"Circle around him. Use Gust," Red countered as fast as he could, relaying his commands as Piyo carried them out. Fast as wind, she'd managed to dodge Zeni's attack and used Gust on him from behind. Zeni was sent hard into the ground by the powerful gust of wind, letting out a loud cry as he was jolted. It looked like he had partially retracted his head and limbs into his shell for protection.

"Use Water Gun to shoot the bird out of the sky!" Green shouted, punctuating his command with movement. Like Red, Green was as into the battle as his partner was. It was exciting to battle like that.

Zeni sent a stream of water out of his mouth at Piyo, keeping it going until he managed to strike her with it. Her feathers soaked, Piyo fell, striking the ground with more force than any human would be able to handle. Thankfully, Pokemon were a lot tougher than humans in any contest.

It wasn't long before the dust cleared from Piyo's fall, and it was made clear that she was knocked out from Zeni's attack. After seeing what had happened Zeni stalked away. Red pulled her POkeball off of his belt and pressed the button to recall her.

"You did good," Red whispered to her, knowing the Pokemon could hear him from within the Pokeball. He could see her all curled up, her wings tucked tightly against her sides. In there, she'd be safe until Red could go to the Pokemon Center. "Alright, Riza it's your turn to fight. Don't let his Water-type moves intimidate you."

With a fierce growl, Riza leapt down to face her opponent. She swept her fiery tail over the ground in a way that was probably meant to be intimidating, throwing up dirt and swirling flame. In reality, it just looked kinda cute. That would change when she evolved into more frightening forms of course. At least she was careful not to ignite the grass.

"This time, we'll be taking the attack. Riza, Dragon Dance," Red called out the move that he usually had her start with. Even though it wouldn't power up Ember, her Scratch attack would probably be more useful anyway considering Zeni's type. Riza jumped up, not to attack but to gain momentum to spin around, surrounding herself in glowing green and purple flame.

"Take your chance before she lands. Use Water Gun," Zeni shot a burst of water once more at Riza, like he had at Piyo, too soon for Riza to get out of the way. It hit the Fire-type Pokemon head on, knocking her to roll on the ground as her move finished. A snarl made its way to Red's ears as Riza was tossed away from Zeni. "We've gotta get her before she can orient herself. Tackle!"

Red narrowed his eyes as Zeni launched himself towards the prone Charmander. "Get out of there!" Riza heard the command too late and struggled to claw herself out of the way. She was struck while still disoriented, flying back into the air further towards Red. Furiously thinking, Red tried to make a plan out of the situation. If Green had his way, Zeni would just juggle Riza, never letting her get up for long enough to utilize her speed boost from Dragon Dance. He realized that she'd have to pull something off in midair if they wanted to make any progress at all. As she fell back towards the ground, Zeni just threw her up again, breathing heavily with the exertion of keeping up with Riza's flailing. "Quickly now, Riza spin in the air and use Ember," Red called out. He hopped that she would be able to pull it off. Even untrained Pokemon had a level of innate battle skill from eons of battling in the wild.

Right on Red's command, Riza pushed off of Zeni's shell to spin herself in the air, letting out a flurry of burning Embers around her. The motion was awkward and ungainly, but it was enough to keep the equally untrained Zeni from getting too close to her. It bought her enough time to land and scramble back to her feet. Sadly, what it did not do was do a lot of damage, since Zeni was a Water-type and all. However, Red and Riza weren't going to lose to something as simple as type advantage.

"Zeni, use Water Gun," Green shouted.

"Meet it with Ember!" Red responded as soon as he could. Pokemon battles were all about quick thinking in situations like that.

The POkemon released their attacks at the same time, burning embers meeting the water burst somewhere between the two. The white steam that resulted covered the battlefield in a fine mist.

"Rush him! Scratch!" Red called. This was the chance he was waiting for. With Riza's speed nearly doubled, it would be easy enough to catch Zeni before he attacked, and catch him she did, striking him fast with sharp claws. Zeni certainly tried his hardest to block, but by the time he managed to throw his stubby little turtle arms in front of his face, the damage had already been dealt. Riza had leapt back away.

"If that's how it's gonna be, then use Aqua Ring. We'll just tank her out," Green shouted. Another stream of water was expelled from Zeni's mouth. This time, however, it twisted and curled like a snake, wrapping itself around him and healing some of the damage done. It wasn't much, but it was enough with the continual healing to cause a problem. Riza would have to keep up the heat, even though Red could tell she was wearing down.

Scratch again. Don't let it up," Red could feel sweat dripping down his face as he relayed his commands to his partner, proving he was as invested in the battle as she was. It was no wonder overweight Pokemon trainers were a rarity with battles even more intense as Pokemon got stronger. The fiery lizard rushed towards Zeni with hot-blooded ferocity, striking with her claws again. Zeni tried to dodge again, but Riza's speed was making things difficult.

"In your shell," Green called in an attempt to prevent the battle from going the same way as the last one they'd had. Zeni retreated back into his shell, causing Riza's claws to scrape uselessly at the bone hard material. She growled at him in frustration and struck one more time for good measure.

"Hmm…" Red thought for a second, knowing he had to think of something before Aqua Ring healed too much of Zeni's hit points. "Try using Ember into his head hole. It might scare him out," Red said. It probably wouldn't do much damage, but it was worth a shot to try. Riza gave Red a bit of an odd look before turning to where Zeni's head was and shooting her Embers into the hole. There was an immediate reaction from the turtle as he popped out of his shell with a shout and a bit of scrambling away. Riza let out a satisfied belch accompanied by black smoke and sparks.

"Water Gun," Green called towards Zeni, who shot his water at Riza.

"Dodge it," Red responded. Hearing him, Riza leapt mostly out of the way, barely being struck on part of her arm. "Try using Smokescreen," Red wasn't entirely sure if she could yet, but it was worth a shot. The attempt paid off, and Riza send a cloud of choking, black smoke smoke all over the battlefield, obscuring the view of both Pokemon. It was the sort that hung in the air, not wanting to disperse unless someone got rid of it.

"Try to clear it with Water Gun," Green called out, not realizing that the spewing jets of water would give away Zeni's position and make him an easy target for Riza. Red waited until the water bursts started to give his order.

"Alright, use Scratch," Red called out to Riza. The Charmander ran forward with claws bared. She easily caught Zeni by surprise, since the swirling smoke made it impossible to see what was happening.

"Zeni, get out of there," Green shouted, but there was no sign of Zeni once the Water Guns stopped shooting. Instead, before long Riza came running out, trying to clear the air by swishing around her tail. It took a little bit, but she was at least making it so that they could see Zeni a bit easier. He was lying on the ground, clearly knocked out, and Riza was making a lot of care to stay away as she cleared the air.

"You did great Riza! Good job," Red scooped up Riza into his arms and squeezed her in a tight hug. She wiggled a bit but still smiled.

"I thought I had it too," Green grumbled, picking up Zeni with one hand and covering his face with the other. Even learned a bit, Riza's smoke still spread thickly in the area, and it smelled faintly of charred flesh for some reason. Not something anyone would really want to breath in at all. Once he had Zeni, he walked to the nearby water fountain and put the small Pokemon in the water. "It's kinda weird that they stay away from each other like that when they get knocked out."

Red stopped gushing over Riza just long enough to shoot a confused look in Green's general direction. "No, it's not."

"What? Don't tell me you know why they do that, especially when you didn't know the power of badges," Green stood up and crossed his arms.

"I do. When Pokemon get knocked out, they release a pheromone that's extremely repellent to other Pokemon and some animals. It prevents them from getting eaten," Red explained as Riza sat herself on his shoulder. It was pretty embarrassing, but at least it wasn't something that was his fault.

"Why don't they just do that all the time then?" Green waited until Zeni stirred a bit to return him to his Pokeball.

"I don't think they make enough to do that. Plus, the pheromone would keep mates away and stuff like that. Those are kind of important, especially considering how many rare species there are," Red explained. He quickly shot a glare at Riza, since she'd started tickling his back with her tail. "Could you not please?" she stopped after that.

"Makes sense then I guess. I'm gonna head out to the woods anyway. Gotta get to the forest fast if I wanna make good time to Pewter City. I've heard it's a couple days trek at best," Green stretched out his arms a bit and looked around.

"With what happened last night, is that such a good idea? It's almost dark," Red said. He was right too. The deep blues and purples of twilight had washed over the area, leeching out a lot of the color where the light from Riza's flame didn't reach. In fact, Riza's tail made the darkness all that more noticeable. It was easy to see just how dark it had gotten. He wondered how he'd managed to get so invested in the battle that he hadn't even noticed that the sun was setting.

"I'll be fine. It's Viridian freaking forest. What can attack me, a Butterfree? 'Oh look at me, I'm a pretty butterfly come to murder you, raaahhhh'," Green scoffed, attaching Zeni's Pokeball to his belt alongside Kora's.

"I've heard that Beedrill can get pretty vicious, especially when they swarm. Plus, it's not even just Pokemon that you have to worry about. What if you run into a lynx, or Arceus forbid a bear?" Red was a bit worried that what happened the night before would happen again. After all, this time Green might not get any help.

"You do know that the animals were all pretty much wiped out during the war, right? I don't need to worry about a thing," Green brushed off Red's concerns like they were flies. It frustrated Red to no end when he did that. While it was true that most of the animal population has been severely reduced due to certain weapons and fighting styles used in the war, many species did still exist in the wild, not just those used for food. Most birds and fish had made it through after all. On top of that, there were conservation efforts across all of the regions to bring back species that were in trouble, even for those places not hit nearly as hard.

"If you say so, but if you get your leg broken again, don't blame me," Red relented. He still would've liked it if Green had agreed to wait for morning, but the other teen wasn't having it. They both knew each other well enough that Green knew that Red wouldn't stop worrying and Red knew that Green would say he wasn't his mom. One of them would have to back down first, and Red already knew it wouldn't be Green.

"Good, cause you aren't going to stop me," Green said, just to make sure he got his point across.

"No, I guess not. At least stop at a Pokemon Center on the way. I'm going to head back to the one where I have a room. I'll be smart and wait until morning to go to the forest. Bye Green," Red turned to leave, waving at Green.

"Smell ya later dork," Green started in the direction of Viridian Forest as Red walked away, and it wasn't long before Red could look behind him and not see him anymore.

"He's going to get himself into even more trouble," Red muttered, earning himself a growl of agreement from Riza. Green was going to be the death of him someday. The sweet sweet death of him.

Sweet death, eh? I wonder what in the world brought on that phrasing, Red thought to himself, shaking his head. The two trainers were infinitely frustrating to each other, but it could never be said that they didn't care about each other at the same time. Green would just never admit to that fact. He was like a burnt marshmallow, crispy and bitter on the outside, but gooey if you ever managed to get past that. Not that many people ever did. Closing his eyes for a second, Red let out a long sigh. Annoyingly, the first of those two actions turned out to be a phenomenally bad idea.

"OW!" there were voices and other sounds, shouts and growls mostly. The thud of people hitting the ground, accompanied by a dull pain. Red had run into something- someone more likely- and now he was on the ground, contemplating how in the world he got there. He opened his eyes to see Riza aggressively growling from the ground near his shoulder and a brunette in a black dress right in front of him.

"Hey, what's the big deal?" she shouted, the seeds of anger starting to bloom in her sky blue eyes.

"I'm sorry. I guess I wasn't paying enough attention to what was happening," Red held out his hand to stop Riza, who looked like she was going to jump on the girl.

"Well thank you Captain Obvious. For a second there, I wasn't sure. Now, you'd better scram. You're lucky my Pokemon are all low on health, or I'd kick you butt," she said venomously, getting up off of the ground. Red could see several Pokeballs attached to a silver and grey belt around her waist. Even though she was a bit shorter than Red, she was still severely intimidating.

"I don't doubt that," Red picked up Riza again, stroking her to keep her calm. He looked to the side a bit, trying to catch a glance at her Pokemon, but she caught on almost immediately, turning a bit so that he couldn't see any of them without walking around. He just barely caught a glimpse of something green.

"Don't think you'll be getting a peek either you snitch," she said.

"Sorry. I was just curious," Red scratched an itch on his head, feeling the strands of his hair get in the way.

"Whatever. I have places to be. Can't be caught with the likes of you," she shoved past Red in a direction that most certainly wasn't the nearest Pokemon Center.

Red sighed and walked back to the Pokemon Center, mildly confused as to what had happened. He certainly wasn't going to follow her, considering that going in the same direction as her wasn't the most appealing of thoughts. She'd been unnecessarily rude, and Red still didn't know who she was.

"Remind me to call mom and Flare when we get back, ok Riza?" Red asked his partner. In response, Riza nodded fiercely, the flame on her tail flaring up a bit, almost as if it was a defensive gesture. He must've still been thinking about the rude girl. Stopping that was hopefully on Riza's to do list, since the flame was about level with the burn she'd given him earlier, and the flare of heat made it hurt. He held in a grunt to make sure Riza didn't worry, though. It was strange how quickly the Charmander had become attached to him. There was quite some difference between her and Piyo, but even then the bird would readily defend him against other people, like Green, or aggressive Pokemon. It was as if his partners were meant to be with him, the Pokemon and the human complementing each other like peanut butter and fluff. It was a rather nice thought that stayed with him all the way back to the Pokemon Center.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Hello, hello. Looks like I've returned with an update that did not take two months to complete. More like a few weeks. I'm working on it. Anyway, thank you Disbanded Crow for all the reviews. Some of the easier ones, I'll try to fix right away, like the counting error in chapter two and the Poketch typo. Anyway, I hope you all like this chapter. Sorry it took awhile. For some reason, Blue's chapters are always the ones I get stuck on.**

Blue brushed some dust off of her dress as she walked away from the trainer she'd knocked over. It seemed that luck had been on her side, and he hadn't been able to call her on any of her bluffs, especially the one about kicking his butt. While Fushi was already a pretty strong Pokemon for how long she'd had her, Blue wasn't sure if the Bulbasaur was ready to face the Fire-type that the boy had carried with him. Whatever that Fire-type was, it must've been a rare Pokemon like Fushi was, since Blue had never seen anything like that before. Maybe she'd check to see if it was in the Pokedex yet later.

It had been too bad he hadn't seemed to have any gym badges yet. What's the point of pickpocketing someone when they don't have anything to steal? Sure, she could've nabbed one of the Pokeballs from his belt, but that was the kind of thing people tended to notice. She'd even gotten a quick look on the inside of his jacket, where people tended to pin their badges when they weren't in a case. That was pretty common thanks to the popular belief that the power of badges would have more effect if they were kept in the open.

"What do you think Fushi?" Blue asked, pulling her partner's Pokeball off of her own belt. Fushi didn't really give much of an expression that gave any indication of knowing what Blue was talking about.

"Probably just didn't have any badges is my guess. After all, he only had two Pokemon on him, and at least the Pidgey is a basic form. From the size, the Fire-type probably is too," Blue put the Pokeball back. She didn't want anyone to see that she had a Bulbasaur of all Pokemon. After taking Fushi from Professor Oak's lab, Blue had quickly discovered that Bulbasaur was an illegal Pokemon to have without a special license. The species was so rare that even breeders needed a license to have them.

As Blue walked in the streets, heading towards the outskirts of the city, a creeping feeling began to come over her, as if she was being followed. Trying not to seem too obvious, she cast her gaze around the area, but she didn't immediately see anything overly suspicious. Maybe a few people she had seen earlier, but that wasn't cause for too much alarm. Still, the feeling of being followed was still there. It prickled at the back of her neck, a wholly uncomfortable feeling. Even though it looked like there was nothing, Blue's instincts had never run her wrong before. With her luck, it would be Team Rocket, finally having caught up to her. She quickly ran several places she could go through her mind, though the list didn't include her hide out at the edge of Viridian Forest. Going back there would just lead whoever was following her to where she was hiding. A Pokemon Center might work. Or the gym? No, the gym was closed while the gym leader was away, but there was a public park behind it. Not optimal due to the time, but alright if things became an emergency. The library was nearby, but she would have to be careful since it was right by the police station. The last thing Blue wanted to do was get caught with an illegal Pokemon. Despite its proximity to the police station, she figured the library would be the best bet considering it was much closer than either of the Pokemon Centers.

Destination in mind, Blue weaved her way through groups of people. She wasn't used to anyplace being so crowded after dark, but those conditions would work in her favor. The theoretical pursuers would be more likely to lose her in the crowded darkness. The library was far enough away that the chances to escape would be plentiful. There would be no need to be overly panicky as long as she played her cards right, and no need to run when she wasn't in danger of being cornered.

Weaving through the people on the street, Blue kept her head down in the darkness. Her best bet would be to find somewhere where there would be people taller than her that she could stand near. Even someone around the same height might do. She really wasn't all that picky. In all, the walk took about twenty minutes. Things are easy when a city puts most of its important buildings in relatively the same area. It was nothing like Saffron City, where getting anywhere was a pain in the butt. Blue calmed down just a bit once she'd gotten inside of the library, the doors providing a welcome barrier between her and whoever was following her. Thankfully, there was no sign of anyone or anything out of the ordinary when she peeked out the windows too, so she figured she was mostly in the clear. Unless it was Team Rocket. Team Rocket were persistent asses when they wanted to be. She'd wait it out just in case. The library didn't close for awhile, so there would be plenty of time before someone decided to kick her out. Blue glanced at her bag for a second in consideration. Putting Zeni's Pokeball in there would probably be a good idea in case someone was too curious, but if she got in trouble, it might take too long to retrieve the Pokemon. Fear of being caught by possible Team Rocket pursuers outweighed the fear of getting caught with an illegal Pokemon. It was just a risk she would have to take.

Blue took a second to check the time and to double check what the closing time would be. It turned out she had longer than she'd originally thought. Even better. With a small sigh of relief, she settled into a chair near some of the book shelves to give her legs a bit of relief. She'd have a few hours to gather herself and find some other way out if this didn't work somehow. A moment of debate led her to hook her index finger over the spine of the nearest book on the shelf to pull it into her lap. She would fit in a bit better if it looked like she was reading something, while in reality she was keeping an eye on her surroundings. Even though the library was a fairly public place, it was never possible to be too careful.

Figuring she'd have some time to kill, Blue looked down at the book she'd chosen from the shelf to see what it was. Just her luck, it was an encyclopedia of the Hoenn region. Who reads encyclopedias ever? Well, apparently Blue did for the next few hours. Surely, there was something in there that was worth reading. After all, now it would look weird if she got back up to put it back when she'd pulled it down so casually.

It turned out, she had been so very very wrong. There was nothing interesting in the encyclopedia. Nothing at all. Blue didn't understand how anything could be so boring and was tempted to pull Fushi's Pokeball off of her belt just to have someone to talk to. That wouldn't be a very good idea, though, so she didn't. What she did do was take a second to check the time again. Apparently, it had only been ten minutes, even though it felt like she'd been sitting in that chair for hours. She yawned from boredom, or maybe tiredness. It could've been either really. The idea of sleep was very attractive at that moment, but she knew she had to stay up just in case. She'd have to rely on her paranoia to keep her awake.

After what felt like days and days of waiting and reading about useless and boring facts about the Hoenn region (apparently due to its size, Hoenn has twice the agricultural output of Kanto and Johto despite being much more urbanized), it was finally library closing time. Honestly, Blue wouldn't even have known if one of the librarians hadn't come up to wake her. She hadn't fallen asleep exactly, but her mind felt hazy, even while she was twitchy with worry and fear, and now she felt slow, sticky and more tired than before. That was never a good state to find herself in, and she told herself she'd make sure not to do it again.

"Thank you," she muttered to the librarian, standing slowly to put the encyclopedia back on its shelf with the other volumes. Who knew the Hoenn region could be so boring? The highlight of her reading had seriously been a footnote on a mythical Pokemon that she barely even remembered the name to. A footnote! It was an outrage. Looking at the rest of the shelf, Blue realized that she probably wouldn't have gotten anything more interesting if she'd tried. It was all encyclopedias. She made a mental note never to sit in this particular spot again.

Keeping an eye out for anything suspicious and a hand on Fushi's Pokeball, Blue walked out of the library and back into the darkness of the night. It was quite a bit colder than she remembered. She really should've thought to wear a sweater or something. At least the cold would help keep her awake, quite unlike earlier. There were a lot less people out than before as well. Most of them probably had finished up whatever business they'd had and gone home.

Blue immediately knew she was in trouble when she saw two Team Rocket grunts loitering up ahead, looking right at her. She grumbled looking around as if she hadn't noticed them, as well as slowing down her walking speed considerably. They must've been whoever was following her around earlier, before she'd tried to take shelter in the library. Yet another point for her instincts. Now all she had to do was find a way to get away from them. There was no way she'd be able to count on help from random passersby, even if she made a scene. No one wanted to be in Team Rocket's way ever, unless of course you were either an idiot or someone like Blue. By this point, Blue wasn't sure whether or not those facts were mutually exclusive.

Once Blue reached the street that led to the nearest Pokemon Center, Blue made a turn, being sure to look natural. She was going to make it look like that was her destination. She needed to hide and escape because a confrontation would only get her in deeper trouble. Team Rocket's habit of using Poison-types wasn't at all good for her and Fushi, considering neither of Fushi's types would allow her to fare well against multiple Poison-types.

Blue took deep breaths as she went, trying to think of a way to escape them. They'd follow her for sure down the street. She was rather obvious. For just a second, she chanced a look behind her to see if they had turned the corner yet. She turned back forward just in time to avoid a very obvious bright white attack that hit the ground in front of her.

"That's not ok," she stumbled backwards slightly, looking for the source. It wasn't until she looked up that she saw a Golbat flying in the air. The Flying-type must've used Air Cutter to stop her. Another glance around, showed the Rocket grunts coming out of the alleys around her. There were four this time, with a Grimer, another Golbat and a Weezing. This was going to be trouble. Maybe she could get around them somehow. Make a break for it.

"Hey you!" nevermind apparently. She counted four, two of whom had Golbats. There was no way she was outrunning those bats.

Blue made a show of ignoring the grunts as she at least tried to walk straight past them. So they could at least know her disdain for the lot of them. One of them decided to make that extremely difficult by grabbing her arm. If looks could kill, all four of them would be so dead it wasn't even funny.

"You know, it isn't very polite to ignore someone who's talking to you," the grunt who grabbed her said with a nasty grin on his face. Looked like he was one of the looney ones who enjoyed his job. Blue always hated those ones the most.

"Well don't you know that it isn't polite to touch a lady without her permission?" Blue shot back, trying her hardest to pull away. The struggle wasn't much use, though. The grunt's grip was much too strong. A quick look around showed Blue what she already suspected. She wasn't getting any help. The few people that had been nearby had hurried away as soon as Team Rocket started causing trouble. Cowards the lot of them. It was hard being the only one to face Team Rocket when no one else was willing.

"I think you know what we're here for," the grunt said, tightening his grip on Blue's arm and making escape even less likely. None of his three buddies had done anything yet, but Blue saw that their Pokemon were ready for if she tried to escape. Of course that's if she ever managed to get away from Mr. Iron Grip over here.

"And if I don't," Blue asked defiantly, in part to annoy them and in part to stall for time. Her eyes darted around, searching for a possible escape route. A fight especially wasn't an option now that she knew exactly what Pokemon they had. Fushi would have trouble with just one of the Golbats, much less the other three included. There was possibly even more than that. She couldn't count on Team Rocket to play fair after all.

"Then you're obviously stupid, since we caught you red handed," the grunt grumbled, getting much closer. "Now give it to us before we hurt you."

In fact, Blue knew exactly what the Rocket grunt was talking about. The small yellow gem in her pocket felt much heavier than before as Blue realized how easily they could take it. She'd have to tread very carefully if she was going to get out of this with the gem.

"You think I'd be dumb enough to carry it with me?" Apparently, she was dumb enough for that if this situation had anything to say. "If I'm gonna be stealing from Team Rocket, you can bet your Zubats I'm gonna hide whatever it is," Blue claimed, intentionally keeping her body language away from her pocket even as her instincts screamed at her to protect it. Her instincts weren't right 100% of the time, and the less the grunts noticed her pockets, the better everything would be.

"Then you're gonna bring us to it pronto, you got that little lady?" the grunt growled, motioning for his Golbat to hover over his shoulder.

"You'll have to let me go for that. Can't lead you anywhere if you're tethered to me like a Honedge," Blue made a point about loudly complaining about their treatment of her. If she was going to be acting, she might as well pull out all the stops.

The grunt's eyes narrowed as he took in what she said. He seemed to take a little while to process it before coming to a conclusion. "Alright, but if you try and pull off any funny business, you've got a world of pain coming at you," he finally decided. Of course, he couldn't seem to let go politely. That would be a waste of good evil. Instead, he roughly shoved her away, causing her to stumble a bit. Blue could hear snickers from some of the other grunts. At least he hadn't fallen. That would just be plain embarrassing. With practiced ease, Blue managed to catch herself and brushed off her dress as if nothing had happened.

"Now it's time to get down to business. Follow me if you would. We've got some walking to do," Blue strode confidently away, most certainly not in the direction she'd like to but the one she had to. She would much rather be tucked away in her base with Fushi, already asleep, but instead she had to go all the way to a Pokemon Center because she'd been foolish enough to camp out in Viridian Forest for too long. Now she had to pretend everything was ok and that she wasn't lying through her teeth to some of the few people who could most certainly have her killed if they decided they didn't need her anymore. She didn't even turn back to see if they were following. After all, if they wanted her to lead them away, that's most certainly what she would do.

"Where exactly are you taking us?" one of the other grunts asked, a woman this time. Good for her, asking the important questions. Too bad Blue wasn't going to give them a straight answer.

"You'll just have to wait and see, now won't you?" Blue replied, picking up the pace. She was surprising even herself with how well she could pull this off with how tired she was. With each step, she was just waiting to make a mistake or miss a crucial detail, but things seemed to be going well. Well, the faster she got to the Pokemon Center, the sooner she'd get some actual sleep.

The grunts grumbled a bit as they went, but no one said anything else. It seemed like they really wanted their special stone back and quickly too if they were willing to let her lead them around like they were doing. They could've just pulled her off the street all sneaky and used other methods that Blue didn't particularly want to think about. She guessed she could consider herself lucky that they'd made that mistake. Escaping Team Rocket in the city was at least plausible. Escaping them in their own headquarters would've been impossible.

Thankfully, the Pokemon Center was fairly close, enough that the walk wasn't too strenuous. It's very helpful when all the important places in your city are somewhat close together. Things like that are what make escaping Team Rocket a breeze. Well, maybe not a breeze but at least much easier. Soon enough, they had arrived.

"A Pokemon Center? You've gotta be kidding me," the first Team Rocket grunt said, glaring at Blue. His Golbat was seeming to make the effort to be especially menacing.

"Well, I'm sorry for being smart about this," Blue rolled her eyes. For effect of course. Not for real at all. Why in the world would she do that? "You bozos are gonna have to stay out here."

"What do you mean bozos?" the grunt burst out before the woman cut in.

"Calm down Rick. Right now, our target is more important than her mouth. We can take care of her attitude later," the woman reprimanded the first grunt. Rick apparently. Possibly useful information, unless they were using fake names. Then, she rounded on Blue, "Do you really think we'll let you in there all by yourself?"

"What do you think people are gonna do if I walk into a hospital of all places with Team Rocket in tow. They'll freak out is what'll happen, and then I won't be able to get past the front desk. Why do I have to explain everything around here?" Blue said impatiently.

"Razza, Kevin, guard the exits. If she tries to escape, feel free to use force. Rick, you stay with me," the female grunt said, making it rather obvious that she'd meant for Blue to hear the orders. It looked like she was trying to be intimidating. All it really did was give Blue the names of the other two.

"Maybe you should make your evil plans less obvious? Anyway, I'll be back soon enough," Blue walked straight into the Pokemon Center as the ordered grunts went around to the other exits. Now, they were all split up. It would be harder to escape, but now winning a fight might be plausible as long as she didn't have to fight one with a Golbat.

Blue made for one of the seats for waiting, hoping to give herself a second to gather her thoughts. Now that she was safe, she needed a viable way out. Sneaking out in the middle of a group might work, but a group large enough to do that was unlikely to show up. Trainers typically travelled alone or with one or two other people. Large groups were rare outside of contests and tournaments. A disguise would be Blue's best bet.

"But first, some sleep," she muttered to herself, pushing herself to her feet. She'd stay the night and then look for disguise in the morning. There was no doubt that the grunts would stay that long. Team Rocket was nothing if not persistent.

Blue walked to the front desk, pulling out her trainer card on the way. It was time to see if the forgery on it was any good. Of course, she'd much rather have applied for a real one, but she didn't exactly qualify, so a forgery was the next best thing.

"Hello, how can I help you today?" the attending nurse asked.

"I'd just like to stay the night please? I've had a rough day and never got the chance to head out to Viridian Forest," Blue held up her trainer card for the nurse to see.

"Alright. It's just up the stairs. The number on the door should correspond to the number on the key," the nurse barely spent any time at all looking at the card before handing Blue the key.

"Thank you," Blue said politely before turning towards the stairs at the edge of the room. She let out a relieved sigh. The fact that the card had worked was a pleasant surprise. Of course, it hadn't helped that she'd waited until the last possible second to test it out. Not the best idea in the world. Then again, Blue didn't really seem to be full of good ones recently. Well, what was past was past, and the only thing left on Blue's mind was the copious amounts of sleep she was about to get.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Hello! Look, I've returned. Are you all proud of me? I'm sorry it took so long. This is actually version 3 of this chapter. Version 1 had a situation that was far too intense for this early in the story, and I lost version 2, but this is pretty similar to version 2. I'm sorry if some of this isn't quite as good as the others, especially with some of the stuff closer to the end. I haven't edited it yet other than running spellcheck because I wanted you all to have at least something to read. Anyway, i hope you enjoy!**

"Riza, please get down. I need to put my shirt on," Red grumbled to his partner, who at the moment was dangling from his arm like some kind of fiery pendulum. She also happened to be very stubborn, refusing to let go. "Hmm… is a tickle attack what you're after? Because that's what you're about to get," he warned, swooping in with his other hand to tickle Riza's belly. She wiggled around, trying her hardest to hold on, but the tickle attack was too much. Finally, she dropped to the floor, landing on her feet but stumbling a bit. Red managed to steady her so she wouldn't fall over.

"You ok?" he asked. Riza replied with a nod and a grin that showed her pointed teeth. "Alright. You can play with Piyo until I'm dressed and packed up if you want. I'm sure she won't mind," Red said, knowing that last bit was somewhat of a lie. Piyo didn't like being woken up, but she'd need to get used to abrupt starts to the day.

Riza growled the affirmative before going straight to jumping on top of Piyo. The surprised bird Pokemon definitely did not agree with the sentiment. With a laugh and a grin of his own, Red was finally able to pull a plain, black t-shirt over his head.

"Well, then. I wonder why I can't see," he joked when he realized the shirt had flattened his hair over his face. He brushed it away before setting to packing what he had out, sealing each item he needed in their respective containment capsules. Hopefully, he'd be able to head out to Viridian Forest quickly, the only obstacle between him and Pewter City. Once he got there, he planned on spending some time training before taking on the gym leader. He'd heard that most trainers lose their first gym challenge due to being overconfident, so he knew he was in for a tough battle. The forest itself probably wouldn't be too bad at least. The team would be able to rely on type advantage to help them until they got to the city.

Red took a deep breath before standing up, hoisting his bag up onto the bed. It looked like Riza and Piyo were busy wrestling each other, so at least they were occupied. He'd grab a quick drink of water from the bathroom before heading out. However, as he went to go to the bathroom, his Pokegear started ringing.

"Yes, hello?" he said, answering.

"Red! It's good we managed to get ahold of you," came the very recognizable voice of professor Oak.

"Professor? What do you need?" Red asked, wondering what he might need. He was sure he'd told Professor Oak everything in the update the night before.

"Your mother just wanted me to warn you about something while she's at work. Apparently, Team Rocket has been spotted snooping around in Viridian City, so be careful. She wanted me to specifically tell you not to get involved if you see anything happening it seems," the Professor said.

"Why would I get involved with a Team Rocket situation? That sounds dangerous," Red said, filling up his cup.

"We know you. You don't like to stand by when people are in trouble. Just be careful. That's all I have to say," came the reply.

"Alright then. Tell my mom I said thanks, ok?"

"I can do that. Goodbye," at that, the professor hung up.

Red sighed before drinking his water. Professor Oak had been right about him not liking to stand by while people were in trouble, but it wasn't like he'd go looking for danger. The police were more than capable of handling Team Rocket. It wasn't even likely he'd run into them.

"Riza, Piyo, it's time to go," he called out to his Pokemon. It was time to get to Viridian Forest.

* * *

Apparently, going around and finding forgotten clothes was not Blue's forte, a really weird fact considering how often she stole things. Compared to that, finders keepers should've been easy. But no. It had to be the hardest thing in the world. Soon enough, she'd have to pretend she needed to go through the lost and found, since stealing clothes out of someone's room would be a rather difficult thing to do. Lost and found it was.

Blue made her way out into the lobby, keeping her frustration off of her face. This was already turning out to be a long day, and she wanted to get out of Viridian City as soon as she could. Then again, if she'd been more careful, Team Rocket never would've found her, and she'd be halfway to Pewter City by now.

"How can I help you?" the nurse on duty, a taller man with bright green hair, asked as Blue walked up to the counter.

"I just need to look at the lost and found is all," Blue explained.

"That I can do. Just come with me," the nurse came out from behind the desk and led Blue off to another area, pulling out a few bins from underneath a table full of pamphlets.

"Thank you," Blue said, kneeling to start rooting through the first bin. Most of the contents seemed to be clothing seemed to be clothing, so at least there was that. Some of it was bound to fit her. It really was kind of impressive how much stuff people leave behind.

"You're welcome. Please let us know if you need anything else," the nurse said before he walked back to his station.

Blue made quick work of digging through the lost and found bins, grabbing a few potential outfits in case there was anything that didn't fit. With womens' sizes, you never could tell. Soon enough, Blue had already gone through the first two and was starting on the third, only stopping when she heard a nearby commotion. A turn of her head showed a Pidgey flying down the stairs, away from the trainer rooms with a small Fire-type Pokemon close behind. She didn't really get much of a look at the Fire-type before the Pidgey swooped right by, causing her to cover her head in reaction. A completely illogical bolt of panic shot through her before she managed to tamp it down.

"Stupid bird," she muttered as she recovered.

"Piyo, Riza! You two need to get back here," a vaguely familiar voice called out over the area. The Pidgey flew back over to land on the arm of a boy that Blue definitely recognized. Though his spiky black hair was now covered by a har, those scarlet eyes seemed to be the most recognizable things in the world. This would make things awkward if he saw her. Rather quickly, Blue turned to face away from him, pulling on one of the shirts she'd gathered as well as a hat to stuff her long, brown hair into. The shirt was way too big for her and covered Fushi's Pokeball, so she had to take a second to adjust it. After that all was over with, she stood back up, keeping her head down to stay unnoticeable.

By this point, the boy had retrieved both of his Pokemon and was making his way to the front desk. In response, Blue ducked around the the front of the room, careful to keep herself out of sight. Going back to the room she had shared with Fushi was easy enough after that.

"Time to really get dressed," she muttered, letting Fushi out of her Pokeball with a tap of the capture mechanism. The small Grass-type Pokemon appeared on the bed with a green light and a poof of leaves, a happy expression on her face at being let out. With her own grin, Blue laid out the various articles of clothing across the bed, just beside Fushi. Then, she pulled off the shirt she'd had on, putting it in a no pile for being too big. The hat went in a maybe pile.

"So, any preferences? There's way too many options for me," Blue joked, sitting down next to Fushi. The Bulbasaur looked the options over, spending a few seconds on each. With each one she didn't like, she gingerly picked it up in her mouth and brought them into a pile at the other end of the bed. It looked somewhat like she was trying to be careful, but her lack of hands certainly made that difficult. By the time she was done, only half of the clothes were still there. The other half had been eliminated from the competition. Now, it was time to find out what actually fit. Without even going to the bathroom first, Blue wiggled out of her dress, picking her belt back up to put on later.

When Fushi made an odd face, Blue grinned with amusement. "You can turn around if you want to. I'm not really concerned," she said as she pulled on a pale blue shirt. This one was slightly big, but it wasn't nearly as bad as the first one she'd tried, so there was that. Only too small and ridiculously big things would be problems. It wasn't long before Blue had gone through the rest of the clothes, adding anything that didn't fit her well enough to the discard pile. Fushi, who had turned her back to Blue, make sure to keep it neat and organized for whoever found it next.

"All done," she announced as she decided what she was going to wear. Once she was dressed, she carefully folded the rest of the good ones to put in her bag, along with her dress. They would come in handy later. Once she was ready to leave, she'd leave the discard pile behind for the cleaning staff to find. The next step was to pull out her earrings and stow them in a pocket on the side of the bag.

"I don't have my makeup kit with me… I'll have to make do with what I have," Blue muttered, walking to a mirror. She couldn't do much to change her face, but there were other things she could do, such as pulling her hair into a ponytail. It felt odd not to have it brushing over her shoulders, but that was the price she had to pay. She pulled her bangs out of her face, brushing them to the side and feeling the strangeness of the absence of hair over her forehead as well.

"Alright, time to go," she muttered, scratching Fushi on the head. The Bulbasaur responded with a contented sound that sounded vaguely like a frog croaking. "What a cutie you are. Now, you'll be able to see my top notch avoiding Team Rocket skills. Although, you're gonna have to go back inside for awhile until I can get away. You can come back out once we've reached the Forest. I'm sure you'll be hungry," Blue said, picking up Fushi's Pokeball. Fushi nodded in response before Blue held the Pokeball towards her. A tap of her nose on the recall switch and she was sucked into the ball.

As Blue was on her way back down to the first level, she noticed that there were far fewer people in the hallways than before. It was a bit odd, but not cause for alarm. Probably. Blue told herself to calm down. Minor details like that aren't always signs that everything is about to go wrong. However, what is a sign that everything is about to go wrong is a very sudden power outage that plunges the entire floor into darkness. Well, probably due to Blue's impressively bad luck, that is exactly what happened.

"What the…" she muttered as the backup lights came on, reddish orange hued instead of the usual bright white to signify a possible emergency. She heard voices shouting and the bright beams of flashlights cutting through the redness. Just in case, Blue dashed down into the stairwell. Apparently everything was going wrong again. She just knew it was Team Rocket, come to crash her plans yet again. There really was no escaping, was there? As she went down, it became increasingly apparent that there was some kind of commotion happening in the lobby.

As soon as she was close enough to take a peek into the lobby, she knew it was bad. It was the exact scenario that she'd been hoping wouldn't happen. Team Rocket had called for backup it seemed, and now they were swarming around in the lobby, corralling the crowd into several groups that were bunching up against the walls. It looked like they had just arrived, since they hadn't put any sort of guard on the stairs or exits yet, but they were certainly working efficiently with what they had started. Blue would have to slip into the nearest group, hopefully unnoticed in the chaos.

It wasn't long before the moment came when it looked like most of the grunts were facing away. With a deep breath, Blue darted down the rest of the stairs and into the nearest group, hopefully before any Team Rocket grunts could have a chance of noticing. She found herself in the midst of too many people being shoved together in too small a place. It was rather uncomfortable with people pressing in from every side, as if they were sardines packed into a tin. Typically one or two people close by was ok, but Blue really had no idea how many people were surrounding her. She'd just have to deal with it.

Over the noise and hustle of the crowd Blue could hear the individual shouting of a single person, a man most likely based on the low pitch. There was just too much to make out the individual qualities. She decided to push forward somewhat, to try and see what was happening. It wasn't the easiest task, and she got several looks, but she made it. And then she almost regretted it. Seriously, did Team Rocket want her that badly? Sure, she stole some weird rock from them, but was it really important enough to bring in Archer of all people? Surely they didn't need the second in command of all of Team Rocket for a mission like that. For that matter, why did they need an executive in the first place?

She knew she was in trouble when she saw several grunts nod to whatever Archer was saying before going out to various groups. They looked like they were doing a search, looking over each person before moving on. There was no way she was sticking around for that to happen. Carefully, Blue pushed her way over to the back of the group, trying not to think about how many people were around her or what Team Rocket would do to her if they found her. Thankfully, there were several exits other than the main one. She was highly likely to be near at least one of them. Sure enough, once she reached the other side of the group, there was an exit in plain sight. She would have to be quick to make it, waiting until the few grunts patrolling back and forth were in the right position. It was almost a repeat of the stairs as she chose the best moment she could and made a mad dash for the door. This time, she knew she would be seen, but if she could reach the door before they reached her, then there would be a chance of escape.

Blue stopped at the door, trying her hardest to tug it open. Panic shot through her when she realized she couldn't. It wouldn't budge, and by now the guards were shouting at her, moving to catch her. The realization came over her that the doors were run by electricity. That must've been why Team Rocket had cut the power. It was to prevent people escaping, since the emergency power only ran the emergency exits. This was a normal exit, completely inert in the absence of power.

"You there. What are you doing?" one of the grunts shouted as at least five of them surrounded her. She didn't recognize any of them from the night before, all of the faces unfamiliar and menacing.

"Wait, I think it's her. We found her," another one came towards her, grabbing her to get a good look. "It is her!"

"Let go of me!" she shouted back at him, elbowing him in the gut. He let go in surprise in pain, but there were already several more to take his place. Too many to fight, and too many to ask Fushi to fight. It didn't stop her from trying as they dragged her to the center of the room.

"Well, well. Did you really think you could escape from us?" Archer said as they grunts brought her within hearing distance.

"Well, I figured I could at least try. Giving up is no fun after all. I gotta put in the effort," Blue shot back with some of her signature snark.

"No matter. We have you now," he turned to the grunts holding her. "Bring her outside."

After that, everything seemed to happen all at once. Blue felt a wave of heat go past her, and the two grunts doing most of the holding were hit by what looked like an Ember attack. There were a lot of cries of pain. Blue suddenly found herself free as those holding her recoiled from the pain. In the chaotic series of events, Blue somehow missed the room being filled with thick, choking smoke that smelled somewhat like burning flesh, but she certainly didn't miss the coughing fit it brought over her.

"Follow me," she vaguely heard someone cry out. Since it certainly didn't sound like Archer or someone that would be a grunt, Blue thought listening would be an at least semi safe course of action. It wasn't like she had very many other options. She stumbled in the direction she was pretty sure it had come from, and when she heard the same voice call for a Pokemon to use Gust, she found herself in clean air again. There were only a few other people around, which was good.

"Are you ok?" one of the people rushed over to check on her, and she recognized him as the boy who she'd knocked over earlier. They kept running into each other so often that it was getting creepy. On his shoulder was his Fire-type, smoke still coming out of the small lizard's mouth. All the smoke must've come from a Smokescreen attack. It must've been exhausting considering how tiring the Pokemon looked.

"I'm just fine, thank you very much," she muttered indignantly, looking at him with a wary suspicion. She wasn't sure why he had helped, but she'd get to the bottom of that question for sure. A quick glance around the area showed that his Pidgey was flying above, keeping the small area mostly clear.

"That's good. Now come on. We've gotta get you out of here," the boy began to make an attempt to pull her away, but she stood her ground.

"Wait just one second. What's the big deal? Why are you helping me?" she said, her hand inching towards the Pokeball on her belt.

"There's no time to talk. They'll regroup before long," the boy said with a pleading tone. It was kind of a pathetic sound to be honest.

"Fine," Blue relented. The boy seemed sincere enough, and she could question him later. Plus he was right. Team Rocket was the biggest threat.

"Right, come on," the boy turned and ran into the smoke, the flame on his Pokemon's tail the only think that Blue could soon see. With no time to regret her life decisions, Blue took a deep breath and followed him. The smoke was just as thick and black as before, nearly impossible to see through. The only thing that served as any kind of waypoint was the dim light from the flame that she followed. Without anything to orient herself to, it seemed to take forever to cross the floor of the lobby.

"Stop, I think I found the doors," she finally heard the boy call from in front of her. A fit of coughing soon followed along with the squeak of the main door opening on manpower rather than its usual methods. Blue surged forward into bright sunlight that stabbed at her eyes with bladed rays. All around were passersby, trying not to look like they were staring at what was happening and failing horribly. Typical passersby. On the ground next to her was the boy, coughing his lungs up. Well, probably not literally coughing his lungs up, but it sure looked like it at the time.

"Are you dying or something? Is this going to impede our dramatic escape because if it does, I'm leaving you behind," Blue asked, taking a few deep breaths of clean air. Almost as soon as she said that, the Pidgey shot out of the cloud of smoke spewing out of the door. She didn't jump. Not at all. No ornithophobia here.

"I'm fine," he pushed himself to his feet, holding onto his Pokemon as if she was about to fall. Then, he recalled his bird Pokemon to her Pokeball, "We have to keep going, 'cause they're gonna come after you."

"Why do you care so much? No one stands up to Team Rocket like that, so what's your deal?" she questioned.

"I guess I just can't bear to see someone in trouble," he said, to which the Fire-type snickered as if it was some sort of joke. "Oh you be quiet Riza," he muttered, squeezing her nose. That sure got a reaction. A very squeaky chittery reaction complete with noises Blue never thought she'd hear out of a reptile.

"Sure, that's totally the case. Let's just get out of here," Blue grumbled, turning to go somewhere else. If he wouldn't tell her his real motives, then so be it.

"Alright then. By the way, my name is Red," the boy jogged to follow, already far too friendly for Blue's liking.

"You're acting like I care about this weirdo who I just met," Blue shot at him.

"You're acting very rude," Red replied with a rather hurt tone. Looks like he'd been expecting her to be pleasant. Well, boo hoo, looks like he got his feelings hurt. Blue considered saying something along the lines of 'welcome to the real world,' but even she had standards.

"Do you want me to thank you? Is that it? I appreciate the help, I really do, but I currently have a really angry Team Rocket after me right now, and we just made them more angry," Blue looked for the best place to go to. The alleys were probably good, since the people in the main streets would only get in the way, so she darted down the nearest side street with Red right on her tail.

"I kind of just want you to not be rude," Red replied.

"Being polite is far too much effort. Plus, I don't really see it as being rude. More honest. After all-," Blue was cut off by a very strange sound that came from above them. She looked upwards to see a Weezing above them, oozing poisonous gasses with a Meowth of all things standing right on top of him. The Weezing must've been some sort of scout because the Meowth jumped down, claws extended, leaving the floating ball of gross to float away somewhere else.

"Well that's not good," Red said, moving his hand to his Pokemon, as if anticipating having to hold her back.

"You don't say," Blue finally decided to actually pull Fushi's Pokeball off of her belt. By this point, she might as well prepare for a fight.

Before they had a chance to get going again, probably ignoring the Meowth altogether, two Team Rocket members appeared at the end of the alleyway, flanked by the Weezing. Neither of them seemed to be wearing the typical grunt uniform, the color being white instead of black with a large R on the front, so Blue could only assume that they were a higher rank than the rest.

"Stop right there," the woman called out. She was slightly taller than the man, with bright magenta hair that was styled in a rather ridiculous manner. Her partner on the other hand had pale blue hair that just went down to his shoulders.

"What should we do?" Red whispered, bringing his Pidgey's Pokeball back off of his belt.

"Well, considering they've probably got levels on us, I think we should fly away on rainbow farts," Blue grumbled.

"What?" Red looked at her like she was crazy, but she declined any further answer. She was too focused on the Rocket members to pay much attention to Red.

Both Rocket members had started running down the alley towards Red and Blue, who both promptly backed up. Red managed to trip over the Meowth, who made a very odd sounding shout, almost humanlike. As the Meowth let out a hiss and swiped at Red, the woman called out an Arbok. As if they weren't in enough trouble.

"Piyo, come out and help," Red threw his Pokeball, calling his Pidgey back out. The fire lizard leapt down from his shoulder as well to join the battle.

"Fushi, you too," Blue called Fushi out, somewhat unconfident of the odds.

"You have a Bulbasaur?" Red asked, obviously shocked.

"Oh yes, that's completely the most important thing happening right now," Blue said, dripping sarcasm like caramel.

"A Bulbasaur and a Charmander, eh? How interesting. I hear those Pokemon fetch quite the pretty penny," came a voice that clearly didn't come from either Rocket member.

"Meowth, keep your priorities straight. We have orders," the man said. Red and Blue looked at each other in mild confusion as the Rocket members continued.

"Well they never said we couldn't take their Pokemon, just that we had to stop the girl if she escaped," the woman said, her Arbok nodding along to her words.

Blue decided to try and sneak off the other way, only to be met by the Weezing right in her face. It seemed he had come back around, completely silent. After that, she looked away in an attempt to get the noxious smog seeping out out of her face. She saw Meowth walking over on two legs rather than all four like most would, acting as if this wasn't the weirdest thing to ever happen.

"Where do ya think you're goin'?" he asked in pretty much perfect Japanese. His voice was definitely the one Blue and Red had just been confused about. Well, everything just got so much weirder. Such fun.

"Ok, I am officially done with today. It isn't even noon yet! Do you know how frustrating that is? The day isn't going to end for hours," Blue shot at Meowth, driving him almost to more shock than she was feeling.

"What's even happening?" Red said, his voice wavering. "Why is that Meowth talking? Why aren't you guys attacking?"

"Well, all we really need to do is keep you here until Archer arrives, but since everyone keeps mentioning it, I'm sure the bosses would appreciate it if we decided to take some initiative. They do like rare Pokemon," the woman said.

"Jessie, you just said-"

"Nevermind what I said James. This is serious business. Kobra use Poison Jab on the Charmander," Jessie commanded her Arbok.

"Riza look out!" Red warned, but Kobra was too fast for the low level Pokemon to dodge properly. Possibly even faster than anything the small Charmander had ever seen based on the look of shock on her face right before she was struck. Before she could even begin to react, Kobra had already rushed forward to strike her with a glowing purple tail. The much smaller lizard was sent flying straight into one of the walls boxing in the alley, hitting it with an audible thud. Even with the knowledge that Pokemon were a lot more sturdy than humans, it made Blue cringe slightly.

"Looks like those Pokemon you got ain't quite stackin' up," Meowth jumped over to Riza, poking her with a claw.

"You get away from her," Red pushed away Meowth before picking up Riza, "Are you ok?" he was obviously concerned for his Pokemon. In the meantime, Blue backed up to the opposite wall, as far from Team Rocket as she could get herself without the Weezing popping up by her again. Fushi noticed what was happening and followed closely. Considering everything that was happening, Blue was starting to regret bringing out her partner. Sure, Pokemon were good for protection and all but not when your opponent is a high enough level to one hit KO your only Pokemon. Anything Team Rocket had would probably be far higher levels than Fushi or anything Red had left. She glanced around quickly for options, spotting a few garbage cans to her left, a dumpster near where Riza had landed and a stack of crates on Blue's other side closer to the Rockets.

"Piyo, get out of here! Find help," Red called up to his bird, who had flown upwards to avoid any possible confrontation with Kobra. After the order, the Pidgey flew off, presumably to find the police or something. Maybe birds were good for something after all.

"Erwin, follow the Pidgey," James ordered his Weezing before unhooking another Pokeball from his belt. Blue noticed that Erwin was moving at a far slower pace than Piyo was, so at least there was that.

"Oh, don't worry. I can handle these twerps on my own," Jessie claimed, Kobra proudly hissing along. It was like the two were in sync or something.

"Are you sure about that? I've been known to be very hard to handle," Blue let her gaze wander to Red who was tending to Riza. Kobra seemed to be consciously avoiding Red and Riza, so it seemed like she was still knocked out. Riza still hadn't stirred at all, and not knowing how long it typically was before a Pokemon would wake up, Blue wasn't sure whether or not to be concerned.

"Oh, I'm certainly sure about myself. Now hand over your Pokemon before anyone gets hurt," Jessie threatened, her words punctuated by malicious hissing.

"Hmm… I'd say that's rather unlikely," Blue said, tackling the pile of crates onto the ground between her and the Rockets. Now, only Meowth was in their way, and he was rather small and easy to avoid. "Run now!" Blue scooped up Fushi with one hand and grabbed one of Red's arms with the other, bringing them both along with her as she ran. She didn't know why she was being particularly caring of Red. She didn't like him. Maybe it was because she owed him for the rescue. Yea, probably that.

"Where are we going?" Red gasped as they went, trying to hold onto Riza with only one hand. Thankfully, he wasn't failing. As soon as they'd made it far enough, Blue kicked over the trash cans as well, creating more blockage and a lot of noise.

"Wherever will get us away from them the quickest," Blue said, looking back at Team Rocket they seemed busy trying to get through the fallen boxes. Hopefully, they wouldn't wise up and try to find a different path. She looked ahead, trying to figure out where to go. A zig-zag path would probably be best, changing directions often. They took a few turns, making sure to check behind each time. It didn't look like Jessie, James and Meowth had caught up enough to see where Blue had led her duo, so that was good. As long as they didn't send out more Pokemon that could fly.

"What if we go into the streets? More people will see what will happening. If we make a ruckus, we might be able to get help," Red suggested like an idiot.

"Trying to get other people involved is the last thing we should be doing. Do you really think anyone will even think to help with Team Rocket? I'm still not sure why you did it," Blue shot the idea down, picking yet another turn. She heard a soft cooing sound above her, looking up to see Piyo flying in circles. The small bird had been calling to get their attention.

"Piyo, did you find help," Red called up to the bird, who nodded. Appearing slightly above her were a few much larger bird Pokemon. Blue recognized them as two Pidgeottos and a Pidgeot. How Piyo had gotten their help, Blue wasn't entirely sure, but as long as they didn't swoop at her head or something ridiculous like that, she wasn't complaining.

"If we've got Pokemon on our side, then we might be able to escape into route 2. Viridian Forest is just past there. They'd never find us there, and the Pokemon might know it better than the city," Red decided it would be a good idea to make another suggestion apparently as he held Riza under his coat. The small Pokemon stirred slightly, which she supposed was probably a good thing.

"Hey! Only I'm allowed to have good ideas," she said, agreeing with him without actually agreeing with him. There was no way she'd actually agree with him.

The two kept going, now with the added protection of the birds above. They kept up the zig-zagging pattern from before but this time proceeded with a destination in mind. Occasionally, one of the birds would disappear, only to return a few minutes later, sometimes with scrapes and cuts as if they had been in particularly rough battles. Like that, the motley group got closer and closer to route 2 without ever needing to see Team Rocket again, just like it should be.

"I think the route gate is this way," Red finally said something, referring to the gates that many cities put up to keep wild Pokemon as out as possible. He was pointing outwards to the street, where Blue could see the gate standing in between two buildings. They had reached the edge of Viridian City. Riza, who had finally woken up, was now seated on Red's shoulder, craning her neck to see the gates. "Piyo, we're gonna go through the gate. Wait for us on the other side," he called up to Piyo, who seemed to relay the message to the other birds as well. She then flew out with her companions to who knows where.

Together, Red and Blue walked out in the street towards the gate. Blue looked around warily, not seeing any Team Rocket. So far, so good. She was making sure to hold Fushi in such a way that would keep the small Pokemon as out of sight as possible. She'd rather not be stared at by random people in the street, though with Riza being in plain sight, Blue's precautions were most likely less than useful. Even though Red and Riza brought the small group quite a lot of attention, they got to the gate without major incident, which was good. Going inside was the easy part. Once they were there, they were greeted by a younger looking police officer with messy hair and the last dregs of sleep still evident on his face.

"You two. Do you have licenses for those Pokemon?" he muttered, at least alert enough to notice the Bulbasaur and Charmander. The question was followed by a large yawn, so maybe he would be tired enough to trick. His own Pokemon, a Houndour, came over to sniff them. Not a Pokemon often seen in Kanto, but certainly a cute one.

"Of course I do," Red said, fishing, out of all things, a Pokedex out of one of his pockets. Blue kept the surprise off of her face. He must've been one of the trainers that Professor Oak had sent out to complete it or something. That would explain a lot. "I got Riza, my Charmander from Professor Oak. Do you need to see the credentials page?"

"Nah, nah. You check out. You too I'm assuming?" the partly mumbled question was directed at Blue. The easiness at which he was trusting their word bothered Blue, but that happened a lot. There was a lot of trust going around apparently. It was like a sickness.

"Yessir," she said without hesitation, adding a chipper tone to her voice. This was all almost too easy.

"Alright then. You two can go. Be careful on route 2. I heard Team Rocket is running about," he motioned for the two to pass, sitting down in a folding chair with a styrofoam cup of coffee in the cup holder. Based on his demeanor, he hadn't touched the coffee yet.

As soon as the two had passed the gate and gone into the route, Red turned to face Blue, "You lied to him," he accused.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Blue lied again, pulling her completely stolen Pokedex out of an outer pocket of her bag, shining bright blue in the sunlight.

"What? That's weird. I thought Green and I were the only ones. I guess the Professor didn't tell us everything," Red replied, confusion evident on his face. Red and Green, eh? And here Blue was, thinking she'd been the only person unfortunate enough to be named after a color. From above, Piyo flew over to land on Red's arm, with the other three birds landing nearby.

"Yes, how fascinating. Well, I'm just gonna stand over here," Blue said, moving slightly away from the large, ferocious birds. In response, Red just gave her a funny look.

"Thank you all for helping us," Red said to the small flock.

The Pidgeot, probably the leader of the group or something (Blue didn't actually know. She didn't really make it a point to learn about the social dynamics of fricking birds), gave a nod before signalling for them all to leave. As they flew away, Blue kept an eye on them until they were out of sight. Just in case of sneaky tricks or pranks. It wasn't like she was afraid.

"Thank you too Piyo," Red told the single, lone bird that remained.

"Well, this day has been fantastically fun and all, but I really must be going. People to meet, places to see, Pokemon to catch. The whole business really. I'm sure you understand," Blue said to Red, putting Fushi down onto the ground. While she did like to carry around her partner, the Bulbasaur got very heavy after awhile, and Blue's now aching arms would not stand for that kind of treatment. It made her wonder how Red did it all day and was still going strong.

"Are you sure?" Red asked, as if Blue hadn't been the rudest person to him for pretty much the entire day, or at least the time they were together. Was he some kind of masochist or something?

"Yes, I'm sure. Leaving now. Toodles," Blue turned away, not even waiting for his reply. She was looking forwards to some peace and quiet alone with her Pokemon, and no one was going to slow her down anymore. It was going to be like that for the rest of the day. Seriously, anyone who tried to get in her way would face wrath equal to Arceus supreme judgement, or whatever the religious nuts called it. Either way, it would be good.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Hello all you beautiful people. I'm sorry for yet another long wait, but here's chapter 10. So I realized in the last chapter there might've been things that weren't explained properly, so I'll get some words in here. One thing that was brought to my attention is that Meowth is the only Pokemon to be majorly around humans that doesn't have a nickname. That will eventually be explained. Also, since Kanto is based off of Japan, I'm having the characters be Japanese speakers. I would've liked to write more as if Kanto had Japanese culture as well, but I'm not confident enough that I won't sound super racist trying to do so. One other thing I should mention is that this is going to end up being a really long story. I currently have 116 planned chapters, but I'll try to shave it down, especially since a lot is filler. Still, I thought it should be made known.** **One final thing. My school blocked this website on all of the school issued laptops, and that's really the only computer I have regular access. Right now, I'm typing this from the app, but I really hate the app. So unless something pops up, I won't be able to update until at least mid June. Think of it as an unplanned seven month hiatus I guess? I'm really sorry. I'd try on the other fanfic sites I use, but all of them are blocked too. I'm really sorry about it, but trying on the app isn't worth it. I don't even know if this is gonna come out any good because of it. Bye I guess. See you all in June.**

Never try to take a nap next to an excitable Charmander. If Red could tell a person anything, it could certainly be that. With all the ruckus Riza was making, he was sure it would be good advice for anyone who had the fortune to train one. It was all far too much noise for him to attempt to reach anything even remotely resembling sleep. Hoping he wasn't about to make a mistake by involving himself, Red opened his eyes to see what was actually going on, and boy was it an interesting sight. Riza seemed to have taken it upon herself to make sure Piyo was the dizziest bird Red had ever seen. With the small lizard running as fast as possible on all fours in a circle, Piyo was having trouble keeping her eyes on Riza, halfheartedly firing a Gust attack in an attempt to knock Riza off course.

"Alright you two, that's enough," Red said, pushing himself into a sitting position. He figured he'd have to wait until both Pokemon were a bit more tired out before having a chance to take his nap, a somewhat sad realization considering the day he'd had so far.

Riza almost immediately stopped running in circles, standing back up on her hind legs. She also seemed to think that giving Red an innocent look would help her case, only to finally get hit by Piyo's Gust attack. What followed was a mildly comical scene involving Riza getting blown over and then rolling a few feet before finally stopping. Since it wasn't a strong move, that fact and Riza's slightly higher level prevented it from doing too much damage. She easily got back up and shot a glare at Piyo.

"Don't do that. It's entirely your fault," Piyo still looked a little bit wobbly, so Red walked over and held out his arm for her to land. Once he felt her sharp talons around his arm, he withdrew it in favor of a closer grip. To calm her down a bit, he stroked her coarse feathers with a few fingers. Then, he sat down with his back against a tree, Piyo now resting in his lap. Riza, left without her playmate, decided to explore the area a bit. Red made sure to keep an eye on her in case she went too far.

"I think we'll do some exploring of our own too. Though it's a different sort of exploring," Red added the second sentence when he saw Piyo blanche at the thought of getting back up. She really wasn't fond of leaving her comfy spots it seemed. Switching the hand he was petting with, he dug into one of his pockets for his Pokedex. He'd sent several Pokemon to Professor Oak in Viridian City, so he was hoping that there would be some more data soon. As he looked through several entries, he noticed something odd about them. Each entry had a little box next to it, black with a white outline. With a tap of his finger, the box next to the Pidgey entry filled in with white. Another tap, and the color disappeared. It seemed like a rather odd function to have. Red wondered for a second what it could possibly be for. After all, it wasn't like the Pokedex came with an instruction manual. He thought maybe they were used to keep track of which Pokemon he captured, but he made a note to ask Professor Oak just in case. He felt like Professor Oak really should've explained things better.

"Hey look, it's you," Red joked, clicking into the entry for Pidgey. Though there wasn't much info available yet, it was still closer to being filled up than some of the other entries. There was already enough basic info to get by, like low level moves and base stats. In fact, it looked like the next level up move Piyo would learn would be Quick Attack.

Piyo warbled in response to Red's comment, looking at the provided image with interest. It was small and pixelated but was still recognizable as a Pidgey. Red thought that maybe better or a wider range of available images would be something useful for the Pokedex. Maybe he could mention it next time he talked to the Professor.

After a bit more looking at entries, Red got up, stowing his Pokedex in his pocket once again. Piyo flew up from his lap to sit on his head again, a habit that Red really hoped wouldn't persist through evolution. It was straining enough to have a bird Pokemon as small as Piyo on his head near constantly. Worries about breaking his neck due to evolution troubles aside, it was finally time for them to go to Viridian Forest. Thankfully, route 2 was far shorter than route 1, only needing a walk of a couple hours at most, and the team had already traversed it halfway through. For a brief moment, Red looked around, as if searching for someone. He wasn't sure why he did it. The only person he could be searching for, the mysterious girl from earlier, was long gone, probably happy to be rid of him even from how she'd acted the whole time.

A second later, Red pulled his Pokegear out, dialing Professor Oak's number. He wanted to know if the girl had been telling the truth. Her entire story was really fishy, even if she didn't seem like a bad person. However, after a few tries, it became clear that Professor Oak wasn't going to pick up. With a sigh, Red returned the Pokegear to its place and turned in the direction of the forest.

"It's time to go," he called out to Riza, who darted over, again running on all fours. Red wondered why he'd never noticed it before, but then he realized that he also hadn't seen Riza run long distances as well. Mostly just short dashes, even with the Dragon Dance boost she got in battles. Either way, she was soon back in her place on Red's shoulder. The rest of the trek to Viridian Forest only took about an hour and a half, and there weren't many battle opportunities on the way. That was disappointing, but the forest itself would have a lot of Pokemon for sure.

"Are you guys ready?" He asked once they'd reached the end of the forest. The treeline was very obvious, as if someone had just cut off the forest in a straight line. At least that made it easy to tell where it was. From what he could see, the route led onto a path through the forest, where there was a bit more light than everywhere else.

Riza jumped down, ready to march into the forest with Red, and though Piyo remained in her spot, she seemed to move slightly. Together, they went into the darkness of Viridian Forest. Red could admit almost immediately that the whole place was kind of creepy. It was strange and dark, with odd shadows popping up everywhere. What little light did come through was filtered green by the leaves of the trees. Even with both of his Pokemon out and alert, he kept getting this odd feeling, as if there were eyes on him at all times. Of course, the forest was full of Bug-type Pokemon. It had to be them.

Some time into the trek, Riza let out a short growl, indicating that she'd seen something. Red followed her line of sight to see a Weedle baring its horn aggressively at them from on a bush. He assumed that there were fewer wild Pokemon on the path because that's where all the humans travelled along, so there was no surprise that it had taken this long to find any. Red grinned, glad for a training opportunity.

"Looks like it's up for a battle. Are you ready Riza?" Red asked his partner, who jumped into action. "Alright, use Ember!"

With a few bursts of bright red embers, the battle was soon over. Riza's type advantage was already working out, which would be good for both her and Piyo's stamina. They'd be able to stay out battling for longer, so Red didn't need to worry about either of them tiring out. He decided that the best way to go about battling would be to keep going off of the path, but keeping the path in sight so he could keep his bearings. The group would probably move a bit slower due to more Pokemon, but Riza and Piyo would benefit from the experience.

"Come on guys. We're gonna take a less conventional path," Red said, jogging to the left somewhat, just far enough that the path was barely visible. Riza kept close, which Red appreciated. It was much darker and difficult to walk where foot traffic hadn't carved out a way, and he was glad for the extra light that Riza gave. It made him glad she was a Fire-type. He shuddered to think of what would've happened had he picked Bulbasaur, a Grass-type who would have a lot of trouble with the Bug-types all around.

It wasn't long before Red was proven right about there being more wild Pokemon off of the path. In fact, there were a metric butt ton of Caterpie and Weedle, even some of their first evolutions as well. He even captured a few for Professor Oak, making sure to deactivate the Pokeballs afterwards. There was also a Butterfree at one point, but Red had no clue what level Metapod evolved at, so he avoided it, having to smother Riza's loud complaints to keep it from noticing. As time went on, both Riza and Piyo got good amounts of practice, though they didn't see any trainers for some reason. Red guessed that most of them probably stuck to the path, especially if they didn't have Red's luck with the whole type advantage thing. That all kept going until, interestingly enough, a Caterpie landed on Red's face.

Immediately, Piyo set herself upon the small bug Pokemon, scratching and clawing with her beak and talons. Riza seemed agitated as well, climbing as far as she could while avoiding Piyo's flapping wings and flailing claws. Not soon enough, Red realized that Piyo was actually attacking the Caterpie rather than using a move like she would in a battle. He felt the Caterpie stick tighter to him, realizing that Piyo could seriously hurt the bug if she kept it up.

"Piyo, calm down. Come over here," Red held out his arm for her to land. For a second it looked like the bird Pokemon wasn't going to listen to the order, but then she landed. Red could clearly tell that the Caterpie was cowering on his face, probably from a combination of fear and pain. Carefully, Red lifted the caterpillar-like Pokemon up, feeling the suckers on its feet tug at his skin. Thankfully, it wasn't holding on particularly hard anymore, maybe sensing that Red wanted to help. One of the first things he could tell upon really seeing the Pokemon was that it looked really scared.

"Hey, it's ok. She's not going to hurt you anymore," Red said, giving the Caterpie a quick look over as he spoke to it. Piyo had really done a number on its back, and several cuts were leaking odd looking fluids with weird colors that definitely weren't red. It was off putting, as Riza was the only other Pokemon Red had seen truly injured, but he wouldn't let it bother him too much. "Riza, can you get me a Potion please? This Caterpie needs help."

While Red began to tend to the Caterpie, taking stock of how deep its wounds actually were, Riza climbed down slightly, going into the medicine pocket of his bag. There, she brought out the item capsule he kept Potions in, as well as a rag he brought to protect his hands while cooking for some reason. Red put the Caterpie down onto a relatively clear portion of the ground, taking the capsule from Riza. As he went to retrieve the items, though, she grabbed his arm rather insistently, the sensation of her claws digging into his arm not all that different from that of Piyo's.

"What is it Riza," he asked quickly, not wanting to spend too much time away from the Caterpie. Riza shoved the rag into his hand, pointing at his forehead. She made her chirping noise that she sometimes made as well, which further indicated that something was wrong. Confused, Red put his hand to the spot on his head she'd pointed to, and then almost immediately pulled it back as he felt a sharp, stinging pain where he'd felt, just over his left eye. There had been a warm, sticky liquid as well, and sure enough, when he looked at his hand, his fingertips had smears of blood on them. Why he hadn't noticed it when Piyo had made the cut, he wasn't sure, but he knew he had to be really careful in a place like this to prevent things like infection, especially if any fluids had gotten into the cut from Caterpie's injuries.

"Thank you Riza. I hadn't noticed that. Can you two get my first aid kit while I work? I'm gonna make sure this Caterpie is alright first," Red pressed the rag Riza had gotten to the cut on his face and retrieved a Potion one handed from the capsule as Piyo and Riza went behind him to carry out their requests. To make things a bit easier for them, he let his bag slide off of his shoulder, onto the ground.

Now with a Potion in his formerly free hand, Red sprayed the purple liquid inside onto the Caterpie's wounds. Though the Caterpie cringed away from the stinging medicine, almost right after the relief was evident. Though the wounds wouldn't heal immediately, it would help along the strong natural healing process that Pokemon already had. With a bit of luck, all of the wounds would be gone within a few hours. Thankfully, the energy restoring capabilities of Potions worked far faster than that. In fact, Caterpie already looked perkier. It looked around a bit, glancing worriedly at Piyo and Riza.

"It's good to see that you're up and about. You don't have to worry about them, ok? They won't hurt you," Red said to the Caterpie, bringing his hand over in a way to ask permission to pet it.

In response, the Caterpie made a happy squeal, crawling past Red's hand and into his lap. He hadn't quite been expecting something like that, but he certainly wasn't arguing. As he stroked the small Pokemon, he pulled out his Pokedex to scan it as well.

 **Caterpie, the Worm Pokemon** **Level: 5** **Moves: Tackle, String Shot** **Ability: Shield Dust** **Gender: Male**

"Looks like you're a tough little guy," Red grinned at Caterpie. He was glad to see Caterpie already starting to feel better. Now that everything wasn't too drastic concerning the caterpillar Pokemon, it was time to focus on himself a bit. He took the first aid kit from Riza, who had been waiting with it for him to be done. The first thing he did was grab a cotton swab and some rubbing alcohol to clean it. Already the bleeding had slowed, so that would make things easier.

"Riza, you and Piyo should watch, just in case you need to help me later," Red said as he soaked the swab in clear liquid. As he wiped down the area, he had to grit his teeth against the stinging. When he was done, the swab came away red and brown, so he made sure to wrap it in several napkins before stuffing it into the trash pocket. He didn't want to get any blood anywhere, even after it dried up. Finally, he grabbed a bandage, carefully placing it over the wound. He made sure to tape it down securely so it wouldn't come off before he wanted it to. Breathing a sigh of relief, he looked back at his Pokemon, both of whom were observing intently. Even Caterpie was looking up at him, though his expression seemed more concerned than interested. He figured he'd put bandages on some of Caterpie's worse wounds as well, just to make sure they didn't get aggravated. Again he pulled out a bandages, placing them on the wounds and taping them down with medical tape to keep them secure. There was no need to clean the wounds for Caterpie, as Potions had a sanitizing solution worked into them, something that was the source of the stinging sensation they brought on.

"All done. I'll make sure to have it looked at once we make it to Pewter City," the reassurance was mainly for the benefit of the Pokemon, since Red knew that the trip to Pewter would be long enough that it would heal by the time they all got there. That is if it didn't get infected before then, but he didn't want to think about that. Just in case, though, he decided they'd stick to the path a bit more to make better time.

Riza climbed up to her spot, inspecting Red's handiwork. She at least seemed to find it acceptable, as she almost immediately went into a more rested position.

"Alright guys, I think it's a good time to have a talk," Red said to both of his Pokemon. While Riza stayed in her spot, Piyo looked up from where she'd been pecking at the ground, probably looking for food of some sort. "As you both can see, the situation at hand is a bit crazy, but one thing that's for sure is that, Piyo, you hurt me and this Caterpie pretty badly. I get that it was all pretty shocking, but you have to be more careful, alright?"

Piyo, who was visibly embarrassed, nodded her head. It was obvious that she hadn't meant to hurt him.

"This applies to you too Riza. I know you didn't do anything, but that doesn't mean it won't happen in the future," Red continued, making sure his other Pokemon got it too. It was important that nothing like that happened again.

Both Pokemon were now quiet and subdued, acting as if Red had gotten mad at them or something. He hadn't, but he could see why they would be upset. This was the first (and hopefully last) time any of them had really gotten in trouble. He reached over to comfort them both. Upsetting them certainly hadn't been the idea, but at least it meant they were thinking about it.

"I'm sorry if I upset you, but it was something that needed to be said. You gotta remember that I'm not as tough as you guys. Humans are pretty flimsy compared to Pokemon," Red shook his arms, letting his hands flop a bit for emphasis. Piyo warbled in amusement, and Riza almost fell off of Red's shoulder. Even Caterpie seemed to think it was funny, so at least it had helped a bit. It had been pretty silly, but he didn't mind as long as it was just the Pokemon around.

"Time to make some more progress, I'd say," Red spoke again, looking up at the sky. It was hard to tell, but he guessed that there was still quite some time left in the day. "Caterpie, will you be alright on your own?" he looked down at the small Pokemon. It already looked like the Pokemon was starting to feel better, which was good.

Instead of answering normally like expected, Caterpie let out a rather distressed sound, burrowing underneath Red's jacket. The small Pokemon didn't seem to want to leave. It was rather odd considering how aggressive wild Pokemon tended to be. Then again, this Caterpie hadn't been displaying any typical behavior.

"Do you want to come with me?" Red asked. Caterpie nodded enthusiastically. "Alright then. It's always nice to have a new friend. I wonder what to call you, though. Something cute probably. How about Furi? It's cute enough for a little guy like you," Red mused, reaching for a Pokeball. Furi seemed to like his new name, squirming around happily in Red's lap. With a smile, Red tapped the Pokemon with the Pokeball he'd picked up, watching him get sucked in with a flash of red light. There were relatively few wobbles before the capture mechanism blinked red and emitted bright sparks, a sign that Furi had been captured. Red almost dropped the Pokeball, though, when some of the sparks flitted across his hand, causing pain. It was no wonder catching Pokemon was usually done from afar.

"Alright Furi, come back out," Red called out Furi from the ball, who then shook his head slightly, as if disoriented, before looking back up at Red. "Looks like we've already got teammate number three!"

Red let Furi crawl up onto his forearm before standing up again. He was already thinking how he might be able to incorporate strategies related to Furi into training. There was a lot to take into account, such as the fact that Bug-types tended to start out weak but then grew very fast, so they would need to be more careful in the beginning. He checked his Pokedex for some possible helpful information, however there were only three moves listed. Tackle, String Shot and Bug Bite, which was learned at level nine for some reason. Usually, a Caterpie would evolve into Metapod a few levels before that. So, in terms of training, Red would probably send out Furi alongside either Riza or Piyo, at least at first, so that he could get a good idea of how well Furi could actually fight. That and he wasn't sure if Furi's injuries would allow the small Pokemon to be quite battle ready.

"Keep alert you guys. We don't wanna run into anything you can't handle, like a Beedrill," he said as they began to move. He figured they'd go for a few more wild battles before going back to the path to find some trainers to fight. All three of the Pokemon kept their eyes and ears open, and soon enough, they'd found a Pidgey.

"Piyo, Furi, you two are up," Red picked his battlers, and both of them moved in front of him, ready for a fight.

The opposing Pidgey started out right away with a Sand Attack, flinging dirt and plants into Piyo's face. It was already clear that the wild Pidgey saw Piyo as the bigger threat, so Red knew he could use that to his advantage.

"While it's distracted, Furi use String Shot!" Red called out. Furi tried his best to face the quickly moving Pidgey, sending out white webbing from his jaws that went pretty much everywhere. Some of it hit the wild Pidgey at least, though some of it also almost hit Piyo, who was busy trying to clean out her eyes. At least it had done what it needed to, limiting the wild Pidgey's movement greatly.

"Good, Piyo use Gust!" Red called to his other Pokemon. Piyo tried her best to follow the order, but her vision was still impaired by the wild Pidgey's previous attack, and the gust of wind she blew went wide, barely ruffling the feathers of her wild counterpart. In response to the failed Gust, they wild Pidgey retaliated with an awkward Tackle attack. Even with its speed hindered by the webbing still attached, it struck with a surprisingly large amount of force. A critical hit. Red had never seen one before, but he could see why they were so widely feared in battle, essentially bringing any normally effective move to the level of a super effective hit. That kind of power made him hope that it wasn't a high enough level to know Gust yet. He wasn't sure if Furi could handle a super effective attack in this condition.

"Both of you, use Tackle together," Red called out, hoping he could disorient their opponent with multiple attacks at once. Just as expected, the wild Pidgey noticed both attackers and had no idea which direction to dodge in, quickly being struck by both attacks.

"Another one for Professor Oak," Red grinned, chucking a Pokeball at the small Pokemon. It was sucked in, and the ball began to shake wildly. Red called for his own partners to come back, thinking he had it in the bag. However, he was soon proven wrong when the ball burst back open, releasing the Pokemon from inside. Apparently not wanting to battle anymore, the Pidgey flew away through the branches of the trees. It was the first time in awhile that Red had missed a capture. Thankfully, he had already caught quite a few Pokemon for the Professor, so it wasn't too big of an issue.

"Piyo, land for a second," Red said to his partner. Thankfully, she had enough of her vision intact to land on his outstretched arm at such a close range. Carefully, he wiped some of the dirt from her eyes with a finger. He tried to be careful but noticed her cringe a few times.

"Sorry about that," he muttered, finishing up. In response, Piyo gave a grateful coo, rubbing her head against his shoulder.

"I think it's time to head back to the path," Red said, stroking Piyo's brown feathers. It would be good to get some better time for the rest of the day and more difficult training against other trainers. Making is way over, Red made sure he had all three of his Pokemon with him. He realized that he would need to start keeping his Pokemon in their Pokeballs more often if his team got any bigger. That was a somewhat disappointing though. He liked keeping his Pokemon out with him. Kept him from getting lonely. Though, even if he kept Piyo and Furi in their Pokeballs, then Riza would still be out considering he'd lost hers.

Once the group was on the path, everything was a bit brighter and clearer again. In the distance, he could already see other people, although he wasn't sure yet if they were going in the right direction to meet with him. Riza seemed disappointed that there would be fewer battles, pacing back and forth across the path. Thankfully, Red only had to deal with one overexcited Pokemon, as the other two seemed more grateful to have a break. He made a mental note to look for some Oran Berries at some point in the near future so he could hopefully save the rest of his Potions. Furi already looked tired out from just the short battle earlier. Red would be sure to keep an eye on him.

Red checked his map to make sure they were still going the right direction, towards the people that he saw it seemed. Their forms were slightly larger now, so they were clearly coming closer. As they did, Riza looked at them with curiosity. It wasn't long before they were near enough for Red to discern features. There were two of them, a boy and a girl who looked like siblings of some sort. Both of them had prominent, hawkish features and mostly black hair. Though their eyes and parts of their hair were different. The boy had poofy, curly hair with green streaks dyed into it and greyish blue eyes, while the girl had longer hair with some of her bangs dyed orange. Her eyes were a bit odd, being two different shades of brown. Once they were close enough to Red, the girl called out to him.

"Hey, we're looking for someone. Have you seen them?" she jogged up, hands in the pockets of her jacket with the boy lagging behind somewhat. Up close, Red could tell that they were probably a few years older than him.

"Um, you'll have to be a bit more specific than that," Red said, feeling Riza crawl up his leg and onto his shoulder.

"Oh right, duh. Really bright hair, really bright personality. You'll know them when you see them," the girl explained. "I'm Kendrah by the way. This is Ed," her gaze was drawn to the Pokemon on Red's shoulder. Not surprising considering Charmander was a rare Pokemon.

"I'm Red. Weird name, I know," he gave her his name in return.

"That's a pretty cool Pokemon you've got there. Hey Ed look at this Charmander. It's been a long time since I've seen a Pokemon like that," Kendrah grinned, trying to poke Riza but pulling back when the Pokemon tried to snap at her. "Anyway, we'd better keep searching."

"Er… how do I contact you if I find your person?" Red asked.

"Do you have a Pokegear? We can trade Pokegear numbers. That way, if you find them, you can shoot me a quick message," Kendrah took out a Pokegear, while Red did his. They tapped the devices together to sync the numbers. It was a feature that had been added fairly recently to the Pokegears, since trainers tended to accumulate a lot of numbers, trading them after battle and calling or messaging each other often for advice, even when they barely knew each other. It was a nice system that almost every trainer took advantage of.

"I'll be sure to let you know," Red grinned, happy he could be helpful to someone. Even if he didn't find the person, he wouldn't have come out of the experience fruitless. It would do him good to have potentially experienced trainers on his contact list to call for advice. After all, if the number of Pokeballs on their belts was anything to go by, they'd both been trainers for awhile.

"Thanks a bunch. If we find them, I'll message you too, so you know you can stop looking. Maybe I'll see you later," Kendrah said, going around to Red's other side.

"Bye," Red replied, watching them go. Though Ed hadn't said a word during the entire exchange, he at least waved bye as they left. Deciding to keep going in his own direction, Red kept going on, deeper and deeper into the forest.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Guess who's back super early! I mean, it's still been a couple months since I last updated, but I finally got my own laptop. Which means I'll be able to start updating again. Maybe if I'm really at it, I'll be able to develop some kind of proper upload schedule.**

It was day two of Red's trek through Viridian Forest, and everything looked exactly the same as before. If it weren't for the existence of the path he was walking on, he would've been sure they were all walking in circles. Actually, he still wasn't entirely sold on the idea that they weren't walking in circles. All of the path looked the same too.

"This is taking forever," he grumbled, annoyed with the whole situation. The three Pokemon with him as well seemed bored and restless, except for Piyo, who was probably asleep. Their last battle with pretty much anything had been ages ago. Even though he had known coming in that the walk through Viridian Forest would take a few days, he hadn't really gotten it until he had to experience it himself. He really hoped that the rest of his journey wouldn't be like this, though he had no reason to think it wouldn't. He found himself wishing for something to break the endless expanse of green and brown. As if in response to that, he felt a buzzing in his pocket. Not exactly what he'd been hoping for, but he'd take it. A quick look at his Pokegear showed that someone had messaged him. He vaguely wondered for a second if it had been Kendrah, the girl from yesterday. After all, he hadn't found the strange missing friend yet, so maybe they'd done it without his help. He clicked open the message to read.

"Rampaging Kangaskhan in the area? Looks like we'd better be careful," he muttered, looking at who the sender might be, which wasn't a person but rather the emergency alert system run by the Pokemon Rangers, which meant that it was a reliable source too. The emergency alert system was actually a surprisingly recent development, created by the Pokemon Rangers as a response to rising numbers of accidents caused by dangerous conditions in the wild. If something happened in a particular area, like a rock slide or an overly aggressive Pokemon, the Rangers would send out a message to everyone with a Pokegear who was located in that particular area. It had quickly become useful, though some trainers didn't like the idea of the Rangers keeping track of their locations. It had been awhile since Red had gotten one of those sorts of messages, since not much really happened in Pallet Town, though he vaguely remembered seeing a missed message about the severe thunderstorm where Green had been injured after he'd gotten to Viridian City. That had taught him to pay better attention to his messages.

Riza looked at Red with a questioning look right after he said his words. Knowing her, she was probably wondering why they would pass up a good opportunity to battle or something along those lines. It was tough to tell with Pokemon since they couldn't talk.

"Well, Kangaskhan is usually a pretty strong Pokemon, even at low levels. I'm not entirely sure you guys have enough experience to handle something like that," Red explained to her. She lowered her head in disappointment at the reason, but at least she seemed to accept it. He'd heard too many stories of Kangaskhan mothers dangerously injuring trainers to protect their children. Even Professor Oak warned not to make a mother Kangaskhan think their baby was in danger, and for some reason, every picture of one he'd ever seen showed them with a baby in their pouch. It seemed odd that a Kangaskhan would even be in Viridian Forest, since they were mostly found in other parts of Kanto, but that didn't make the danger any less. In fact, that probably made the danger greater. They'd have to be more careful. Red sighed in disappointment before going on, slightly more quickly than before. He'd been thinking of going back off the path for some more battles, but now it was probably safer to just keep going on the path until the Kangaskhan calmed down again. Red knew that once the Rangers knew the threat had been ended, they would send another message to say something about it.

"Piyo, why don't you scout around? Just to make sure we don't run into it," Red said to his bird Pokemon. She took a few seconds before taking off, probably sad to be displaced from the nest she'd made out of Red's hair.

"Thank you," he said as she flew away through the trees. He wasn't majorly concerned about her not being able to find him again, since the path was pretty obvious to anyone who went over it. Riza and Furi would be able to handle wild battles until she got back.

"I hope someone manages to calm down that Kangaskhan. An upset Pokemon is never a happy sight," he said again, making sure Riza and Furi were still in view. It was upsetting to think about considering he loved Pokemon so much. He wished he could do something to help but didn't want to go looking for danger again. However, a few minutes later, the unmistakable sound of a scream sounded out through the forest. As if the place wasn't creepy enough. For a second, he stood shock still, unsure of what to do. If that was the doing of the Kangaskhan, then that only solidified it as a dangerous Pokemon. A raging Pokemon was one thing, but now someone was actually in danger. Which also meant that if Red went to go do something, he would be in danger too. Still, he couldn't bear the thought of anyone being in trouble.

"Dammit, I'm going to go find them. Come on Riza," Red ran off into the woods, only checking to see if Riza was following. Furi wasn't an issue considering he was attached to Red's arm. Though as he ran, he could feel Furi crawling to his shoulder to avoid being tossed around when his arms moved. He ran in the direction of the screaming for a good few minutes before he realized he was not only getting tired out but also had no idea where he was going. Though he had started out going in the general right direction, he was going to need to reorient himself, which meant he needed some sound clues.

"Riza, can you hear anything?" he asked, knowing his partner probably had a better sense of smell as a carnivore and all.

Riza stopped and stood up, moving her head from side to side. After a few seconds of that, she faced somewhat to the right, growling at something Red couldn't perceive.

"That way?"

She nodded, and they set off again. Before long Red could hear it too, a loud crashing and roaring that echoed somewhat, making it difficult to follow. Sometimes, the sound of an attack could be heard. It wasn't until Red was almost hit by one of said attacks did he realize that they'd made it.

"Woah," he stumbled backwards, staring a very big, very angry Pokemon directly in the face. Not exactly his best moment.

"Get out of the way!" shouted someone off to the left, and Red started scrambling in that direction. He felt Riza's claws gripping at his clothes and saw Kangaskhan trample through the space where they'd been standing. As he went, he saw several Pokemon that were surrounding the Kangaskhan, firing weak attacks. Two of them were species that Red didn't recognize, but one of them was a Pidgey. In fact, it was Otto, Green's Pidgey, which meant that Green must've been nearby as well.

"Up here!" the person shouted again, a female voice. Red looked up briefly to see Green sitting in the branches of a tree next to a girl he didn't recognize. Then he looked back at the Kangaskhan, distracted by the Pokemon surrounding it.

"Come on slowpoke, we haven't got all day," Green snapped, getting Red's attention back to escaping the raging mama monster that had nearly hurt him. Red ran over to the tree and jumped up, catching the first branch with his hand. He felt someone grab his other and help to haul him up. Once his feet met the branch, he let himself relax somewhat. He was out of danger for now.

"What's going on?" he asked, looking at the group of Pokemon on the ground. The two he didn't recognize probably belonged to the girl. One of them was a small, fox-like Pokemon that kept teleporting around, while the other was a green and brown, circle shaped owl. Neither of them looked very powerful when they sent attacks.

"This idiot decided to try and capture that Kangaskhan over there," the girl said with outrage in her voice. She shoved at Green as she spoke, almost causing him to topple from the branch he was on.

"Hey, don't do that," Green grumbled back, regaining his balance. Upon closer observation, Red realized that she might be the person he was looking for. She definitely had a loud appearance, with wacky clothes, her hair dyed in several different colors and piercings in her ears, nose and eyebrow.

"Anyway, the Kangaskhan baby in the pouch is sick, which is why she reacted so violently. I tried to get close to try and help, but she kind of stepped on my hand," the girl motioned to one of her arms, which she was holding to her side to keep it from moving much. It was pretty obvious that several bones were probably broken, as her fingers were sticking out at odd angles, and there was just something malformed looking about the whole hand.

"So, the plan is to distract crazy mama over there until we come up with a real plan, or until she gets to one of our Pokemon," Green finished, clearly overjoyed to be working with someone who had called him an idiot… not really, but that was a more pleasant thought than his current mood.

"Calm down Kangaskhan maybe?" Red asked.

"Oh, yes, that's a brilliant idea. Maybe while we're at it, we can serve her tea and crumpets as well," Green said, looking suspiciously at Kangaskhan.

"What if we try something like a String Shot? That'll slow her down a lot. I caught a Caterpie recently," Red suggested. He felt Furi crawl up around his front, happy at the prospect of being helpful.

"That might work. If she's slowed down, she won't be able to rage as much. I don't have any Bug-types, so I won't be much help in this department," the girl said.

"Sure, sure. I guess that's an ok plan," Green pulled out a Pokeball. "Supia come out." the Pokeball opened to reveal a Kakuna. "Supia here can help even better. Just evolved from a Weedle actually." Of course Green could never pass up opportunity to gloat.

"Soren, Archer, come back. Don't want you guys in the line of fire," the girl called out to her Pokemon, both of which vacated the area quickly.

"Right, Furi, use String Shot," Red called to his Pokemon, who crawled down onto the branch to get a better shot.

"Supia, you too," Green apparently decided to have his Pokemon help out. As the two Bug-types sent out their webbing, Otto finally decided to fly back towards the tree, long after his allies had left. Confused about where all her opponents had gone, Kangaskhan let out a great roar. She was quickly ensnared by the webbing and thrashed about, trying her hardest to escape. However, she hadn't reacted in time to get out of the worst of it, already finding it hard to move by the time she realized enough to react. Red noticed that as much as she moved about, she always kept one of her arms hovering over her pouch to protect the baby inside. Soon, there was enough webbing to keep her from moving much at all.

"Thank you Furi. You did good," Red said as they finished up. The small Pokemon brightened considerably from the praise, even from an already good mood.

"So we stopped her from moving. Now what?" Green asked.

"Do you think it's safe to go down?" Red asked, picking up Furi again. In response, the caterpillar wiggled around in Red's grip. Green merely returned Supia to the Pokeball.

"I'll go down. That baby still needs help," the girl jumped down from the branch to the ground, with her Pokemon right with her. There was a hint of a wince on her face when she landed, but other than that her wrist didn't seem to be bothering her. "You two, keep an eye out."

She pulled a Pecha Berry from a pouch on her belt as she approached Kangaskhan. Those sorts of berries were well known for curing illnesses brought on by poison. Red thought it was strange that the sick baby might have been poisoned. Strange and disturbing as well. He really hoped that it had been an accident because the thought of someone intentionally poisoning a Pokemon was hard to think about. He saw that she was still going, caerphilly moving closer. Her hand with the berry was outstretched towards Kangaskhan, who growled but otherwise seemed at least slightly calmer.

"Hey there big girl. It's ok, I'm not gonna hurt you. I'm here to help. There's some berries right here for you guys. You've just gotta stay calm," she said in a far more calming voice than before, rolling the berry the rest of the way towards the angry mother, quickly replacing it with another. Kangaskhan could reach just far enough to pick up the berry. She sniffed it a few times before stuffing it in her pouch.

"That's good, you're doing fine. I'm not gonna let anything happen to you," the girl moved a bit closer, offering the next berry straight from her hand. Though Kangaskhan tensed slightly, she didn't try and attack, which was probably good. Red felt the tension in the air just from watching the whole ordeal happen. He couldn't imagine how it felt for the girl down there. Soon, Kangaskhan had snatched the berry from the girl's hand, once again sniffing it before putting it with the other. "There you go. Now your baby can get all better. I brought some extras for you so that you don't get sick either." The girl pulled out a few more, dropping them into Kangaskhan's now outstretched hand. "Soren, cut the threads."

The fox-like Pokemon used a Scratch attack to cut through some of the threads binding Kangaskhan. With fewer of them there, she was now easily able to break free from the rest. She looked back at the humans and their Pokemon, giving them a nod, before walking away, far calmer than before. With the danger now gone, Red and Green came down from the tree as well.

"How did you even do that?" Green whined, probably butthurt about not being able to catch Kangaskhan. Then again, capturing that particular Pokemon species was always on the controversial side, considering the mother baby came together. For some reason, they were counted by the systems in a Pokeball as a single Pokemon, and Kangaskhan babies had been observed to never grow past the stage at which they were captured. However, those with babies were more sought after, as only those Kangaskhan could mega evolve for some reason. Red had heard that mega Kangaskhan was especially powerful in battle, but he'd never seen one in action. Mega evolution wasn't very common in the Kanto region.

"She was kind about it, unlike you," Red shot at his friend. Though he hadn't been there to see Green's interaction with Kangaskhan, but he knew his friend well enough to guess.

"Kindness is overrated. I'm outta here," Green waved, turning to walk away.

"He's kind of a jerk," the girl approached Red, both of her Pokemon by her side.

"Yea, well it was him as a friend or crippling loneliness. We come from Pallet Town," Red explained.

"That's gotta suck. My name is Serra by the way, and these guys are Soren and Archer," she pointed to the fox and the owl in turn. Both Pokemon nodded their heads as Serra introduced them, though Soren only seemed to be doing it out of obligation.

"Well, I'm Red. My Pokemon are Riza and Furi. I also have a Pidgey named Piyo, but she isn't here right now. I don't actually know where she is," Red introduced his own Pokemon as well. Riza waved from his shoulder while Furi kind of just squirmed around a bit. It was probably hard to be expressive as someone who could do nothing but wiggle and crawl all the time. "Are you going to be ok?" he motioned towards her hurt hand.

"Oh, I'll be fine. I know someone who can fix it," Serra brushed it off, surprisingly unconcerned about how broken her hand and wrist were.

"Aright… oh, I think I met someone who was looking for you," Red decided to mention.

"Kenny and Ed probably? Figures. I have been gone for a few days. They worry too much," she muttered to herself as Soren climbed up to her shoulder. He was a rather odd looking Pokemon with black and lavender fur and strange markings on his face. Around his neck, there was an odd purple-pink mist that seemed to ooze from his fur. It gathered together almost like a ruff. Archer on the other hand had a far simpler appearance. In fact, the most complicated thing about him was the little leaf bowtie that he had. It was kind of cute.

"Will you let me accompany you on your way? I don't want anything else bad to happen," Red said. Even though Serra could probably take care of herself, he couldn't help but worry. After all, she was already injured. Typically those kinds of things are incapacitating on their own.

"Of course you can come! I love making new friends," Serra smiled widely, clapping her hands together. Though it was an act of joy, the loud noise made the Pokemon on her shoulder jump. "Oops. Sorry Soren."

"Thanks," Red grinned at her happiness. She seemed to just glow with joy, not even concerned that she was hurt.

"No, I should be thanking you. It's not every day that I get company as good as you," she smiled as well, skipping ahead along with her partners. Grabbing his Pokedex from his pocket, Red rushed to catch up.

"Do you mind if I scan your Pokemon? I'm completing the Pokedex for Professor Oak," Red asked her, knowing that the more data he could get, the happier the professor would be.

"You have a Pokedex?" Serra looked back at him, interest flooding her face. She looked at it as if it was something she'd never seen before, which was probably true. Though there was a bit of publicity around the Pokedex, not very many people had seen one in person.

"Yea, from the Professor," Red replied.

"Do Soren! I wanna see what it says about my little darling," she grabbed the Pokemon from her shoulder, holding him out for Red.

"Sure," Red pressed the button to scan Soren.

 **Zorua, the Tricky Fox Pokemon (Kalos var.)**

 **Gender: Male**

 **Type: Ghost**

 **Level: 15**

 **Ability: Illusion**

 **Moves: Shadow Sneak, Fake Tears, Astonish, Teleport**

Red thought it was odd that it only listed a few of Soren's moves. He had seen the Pokemon use Scratch earlier to help free Kangaskhan.

"This is an interesting Pokemon you've got there. What region is he from?" Red showed Serra the screen.

"That's so cool! Oh, Zorua originally came from the Unova region, but Soren is a Kalosian variant," Serra said, grinning widely. She was weirdly excited over the Pokedex. "What about Archer? Can you do him too?"

Red was finding it difficult to keep up with her neverending excitement, but he still tried anyway, pointing his Dex at the flying owl Pokemon. It took a few adjustments, since Archer kept moving in the air, but he got it.

 **Rowlet, the Grass Quill Pokemon**

 **Gender: Male**

 **Type: Grass/Flying**

 **Level: 14**

 **Ability: Overgrow**

 **Moves: Razor Leaf, Astonish, Peck, Growl**

Once again, it only listed four moves, even though Archer was definitely a high enough level to know a few more than that. He showed it to Serra again, who was still extremely excited.

"I dunno why it only lists four moves," he said with a shrug. As he'd said before, it wasn't like the Pokedex came with an instruction manual.

"It looks like the four most recently learned moves. Archer and Soren both know six of them. I mean, high level Pokemon know a lot. It would take a lot of space to list all of them," Serra suggested to him.

"That would make sense," Red muttered, thinking that the Pokedex should probably come with a freaking instruction manual. He was getting pretty salty about that whole situation. The rest of the walk went fairly well. Serra did most of the talking, and she kept switching topics every five minutes. It was hard to keep up, though with her driving the conversation, Red didn't have to say much of anything. She did get really excited when Piyo got back, insisting in properly introducing Archer to the fellow bird Pokemon. Red could've sworn she was trying to set them up on a date or something. He had to admit it was cute, though. Soon after that, they reached a rather large cleared out area. There was a house looking building in the center, with a lot of fencing surrounding the clearing behind it. The fences looked like they were keeping in a whole lot of playing Pokemon. Though a few of them, like an Onix he saw, were large enough that the fences probably didn't do much.

"Welcome to Murphy Farm. It's not actually a real farm. We just call it that. The real name is the Murphy family rescue and adoption center. We take in abandoned Pokemon that don't know how to survive in the wild," Serra explained the place to Red. By the way she talked, it sounded like she worked there.

"People really abandon this many Pokemon?" Red saw so many in the fenced in area, many of which were species he didn't recognize. He noticed that the proportion of non-native Pokemon to Kanto Pokemon was oddly high for some reason.

"People have a bad habit of getting Pokemon eggs imported from other regions and then abandoning the Pokemon in the wild when it doesn't turn out to be what they expected. We do rescues all over Kanto. That's what I do here," she explained, somewhat sadly. It was the first time yet that Red had heard her speak in anything other than a jovial tone of voice. As they walked, Archer flew over to one of the fences with the other Pokemon. Serra grinned at him, pulling out two Pokeballs, "Finnegale, Missy, come on out," she released two more Pokemon, one of which Red recognized as a Trapinch. The other was a small, black and white lizard with reddish glowing icicles sticking up from its back.

"What's that one?" Red asked, pointing at the lizard.

"That's Missy. She's a Salandit, also from Kalos. Normally, they're from Alola though," Serra said, watching the the recently let out Pokemon run off towards the fenced in area. Only Soren stayed behind.

"Are the Pokemon here happy?" he wondered out loud, looking at his own partners. It baffled him how anyone could abandon their Pokemon. It was common knowledge that Pokemon were capable of immense trust and loyalty. Betraying that was one of the most cruel things he could think of.

"Most of them are… Now come on. The people here are great, especially Grannie Murphy," Serra's tone made it obvious that what Red had asked about wasn't something she wanted to talk about. She took off for the door, letting herself in, while Red followed a bit more slowly. It was a nice place, and the door opened into a large area that seemed to house far more miserable Pokemon than were outside. Many were being cared for by what looked like employees. There was some kind of reception counter on the wall directly opposite the door with Kandrah of all people standing behind it.

"Serra, you're back," she grinned at the sight of her friend. Beside her on the counter was a Swablu that also seemed to brighten up.

"Hi Kenny! Is Ed home?" Serra asked, tickling the Swablu on the belly. Red looked over at the Pokemon that were in the larger area to the side. There weren't as many as there had been outside, and many of the ones that he could see had some kind of comfort object with them or were wrapped in blankets. It this was the outcome of someone abandoning their Pokemon, then it merely cemented in his mind that abandoning them had only caused harm. There was food and water that seemed readily available to all of the Pokemon there along one wall, and the far wall seemed to have barn like doors that were wide open, probably to let the Pokemon in and out. Indeed, he could see that some Pokemon came inside to eat some food or to take a drink before heading back outside. Piyo and Furi both seemed to want to get a closer look, while Riza stayed with Red. Thankfully the workers didn't seem to mind them.

"Not yet. I'll message him," Kendrah pulled out her own Pokegear before spotting Red. "Well, well. Look who didn't message me when he found my missing friend."

"Sorry about that. Things have been a bit hectic today," Red tried to explain, hearing Riza make a hissing noise that seemed to be akin to laughing. Of course she would think something like this was funny. Riza always thought Red's misfortune was funny.

"Don't get mad at him. He saved me!" Serra suddenly wrapped her good arm around Red's shoulders in an awkward, sideways approximation of a hug. The fact that she was shorter than him only made it worse, as she dragged him down to her level. He was sure it was a comical scene to Kendrah, who seemed to be finding it hard not to grin.

"I guess I'll let it slide then," the black haired girl picked up her Swablu and walked around to the front of the counter. "How did the Kangaskhan go? I'm assuming that's why you disappeared after all."

"Not as well as it could've. I need to see Shelly," Serra motioned towards her injured hand, which was still very broken. In fact, it looked worse than before, all purple and swollen to twice the size of her uninjured limb. On the bright side, the intense swelling made it far more difficult to tell that the fingers were pointing in the wrong directions.

"Come on then. You might as well come too, since you're here and all," Kendrah said, the second part referring to Red. She placed a sign on the counter that read, 'be back in 5 minutes' in pretty terrible handwriting before leading them into another room. In there, it almost looked like a clinic where a small, badly bruised Rattata was being treated by a teenage girl and a Gardevoir. Upon their entrance, the girl looked over, leaving the Rattata to the Gardevoir.

"What did you do this time?" the doctor girl asked, looking over the group with a mixture of concern and annoyance. She looked both tired and bothered.

"A Kangaskhan stepped on my wrist," Serra explained. "Sorry Shelly."

Shelly sighed, walking over to look. "Amaranth, finish up with the patient," she looked at Serra's broken hand, with the concern growing on her face. Serra winced as the other girl poked and prodded at it. "The bones are going to have to be shifted back into place. That's difficult without a proper x-ray machine… I don't know if I can do this. Are you sure you don't want to go to Viridian City for this because I might make it worse."

"I'll be fine! You've fixed me up before. You can do it again," Serra brushed off Shelly's concerns like they were dust in the air, but it didn't seem to help the mood.

"Alright, I'll try…" she relented. "The rest of you should go back to the lobby. I'm going to need to focus, and this isn't going to be pretty."

"No problem," Kendrah gave a thumbs up before leaving the room.

"Bye. I hope it goes well," Red said a bit awkwardly while waving before following her out. He let out a breath once he was out there. He could see that Piyo was being fed by an employee, while Furi was trying to cheer up one of the more sad looking Pokemon.

"I swear, someday she's gonna get herself killed," Kendrah sighed, squeezing her Swablu as if for comfort. "Shelly is in training to be a Pokemon doctor, so her human related training is minimal. Then Serra comes along and gets herself injured, thinking everything is just hunky dory. I dunno what she'd do without the rest of us."

"That's gotta suck. Maybe you should tell her?" it was a pretty bad suggestion, but it was all he had.

"You think we haven't tried that? She may have some smarts, but nothing is getting through that thick skull of hers," Kendrah sighed.

"As I said, suckish. Anyway, I probably have to go. Riza gets restless when she hasn't had a battle in awhile, and I don't want to intrude," Red prepared to call for his Pokemon to come back.

"Nonsense. You should at least stay until Ed gets back so he can properly thank you for rescuing Serra. You basically did his job for him," Kendrah insisted. The people here seemed to do a lot of insisting.

"Really? Sure then. I'd love to stay," Red grinned, finally actually calling his two Pokemon back. Piyo flew quickly into the air, landing on his head, while Furi came a bit more slowly.

"The family lives upstairs. You can put your stuff up there. Ed's room is probably fine. He won't mind. I'd come with you, but I have to get back to work," Kendrah pointed towards the staircase that led up to the upper level of the building.

"Thanks," Red looked up the stairs, waiting for Furi to reach him before going up. He went up to the upper level, going through a door at the top into what looked like the living room of a house. There were already a few people in there, two middle aged looking adults and an elderly grandmother looking lady.

"Are you one of Ed's friends? Ya gotta put your Pokemon in at the door," the only man in the room said, probably Ed's dad from the sound of it.

"Oh, I do? Sorry about that sir," Red apologetically returned his Furi and Piyo to their Pokeballs, looking at them curling up inside. He was glad for the transparent tops because he'd at lease still get to talk to them. "Riza doesn't have a Pokeball. Is that ok?"

"Sir? I like that. You can keep the lizard out, as long as she behaves," Ed's dad looked back at the television in the room, which was playing some kind of monster movie. Something about a gigantic Swalot. At least that's what he thought it was called. Sometimes he got a bit fuzzy on Hoenn Pokemon. With the two middle aged adults both doing that, it left the grandmother lady, who was sitting by the open window, smoking a cigarette. She seemed to be watching the Pokemon playing outside. Wondering if he'd be able to spot Serra's three Pokemon, he walked over to the next window over, just outside of the range of smoke. Now that he was close, he could tell that whatever she was smoking definitely wasn't tobacco. It didn't have the right smell for that. Living in a small town like Pallet, there were a lot more smokers than people would think, so he had a pretty intimate relationship with the awful smell of tobacco. Riza wrinkled her nose at the smell of whatever this was, probably stronger for her than it was for Red.

"They're wonderful, aren't they?" the lady noticed Red walking up.

"Yea, they are, Mrs… er…" he wasn't sure what her name was.

"You can call me Grannie Murphy. Almost all the children here do, and I have a feeling I'll be seeing you again," she gave him a sweet smile. It was nice really. Red had never met his own grandparents, and here was someone else's grandmother already making him feel welcome. The closest he'd ever gotten to a grandparent of his own was Professor Oak, since he didn't have much family at all other than his mother and brothers.

"Thank you. But yea, the Pokemon are wonderful. There's nothing better than being alongside them," Red said, reaching up to stroke Riza gently. Grannie Murphy didn't say anything else, but there already seemed to be an unspoken understanding between them, stemming from the Pokemon that were indeed so wonderful. It was no wonder he lost track of time as he just watched the Pokemon that were playing outside.


	12. Chapter 12

So, the Murphys had insisted on Red spending the night at the ranch. Well, mostly just Grannie Murphy and the two teens who weren't probably dying a painful death (Shelly wanted to keep Serra in the infirmary overnight just in case), and boy were they good at insisting. The two adults who lived there, who Red had been correct in assuming were Ed's parents, didn't have much of an opinion in the matter. To celebrate, Grannie Murphy had made cookies, which Ed had felt the need to mention were completely normal. It had been nice, if a bit odd at times. They seemed to be a strange family in general. At the moment, it was mid-morning of the next day, and Red and Riza were watching Kendrah and Ed battle against each other. The current matchup was a Jolteon named Citron on Kendrah's side and a Gliscor on Ed's. Although, Red wasn't entirely sure if he'd heard the Gliscor's name right considering the fact that he could've sworn he'd heard Ed call him Count Murderla. If that was correct, it was a very odd nickname indeed.

Due to Count Murderla's Ground-type, Citron very clearly had the disadvantage. Still, the electric Pokemon seemed to be holding her own fairly well, relying mostly on her superior speed combined with a few low power Normal-type moves done in quick succession. It was a smart strategy, but it wouldn't hold up forever, since faster Pokemon tended to tire out more quickly as well. However, Kendrah soon grinned a very evil looking grin as the battle progressed.

"Check out this new trick we learned while training. Citron, use Hidden Power!" she called out. The Pokemon quickly gathered bright, pale blue energy around herself before unleashing it towards Count Murderla in wide rings. Unlike most attacks, it remained in that energy state rather than condensing into some recognizable form, and the energy hit the scorpion bat Pokemon harder than the other attacks that Citron had tried before. It was an odd thing to watch, with Count Murderla having been hit with the force of a supereffective move. Red didn't know much about Hidden Power, but apparently, it had to be supereffective against Ground or Flying-types. Or maybe both. It could be an Ice-type move for all he knew.

"They're in training to become Elite Four members someday,"

Red almost jumped at the sudden voice from behind him, definitely at least moving enough to annoy Riza because she hissed in his ear. Whoops. He turned around to see that Serra had snuck up behind him, grinning widely like she tended to do. He wondered if she did that to everyone else because she was really good at it.

"Really? They don't fight like Elite Four members," Red decided to give her a reply. Elite Four battles were often televised, so he knew their strategies fairly well. While Ed's team somewhat fit the narrative of a brutal, hard hitting team, Kendrah at least was completely different, seeming more to rely on various strategies that were more suited to the individual Pokemon. An example would be what Citron was doing, or what she'd done with her Togekiss, Song, earlier, paralyzing one of Ed's Pokemon and then taking advantage of the Serene Grace ability to flinch her opponent multiple times. Though Song hadn't been much of a hard hitter either, she had tanked through Ed's hits like a boss.

"That's the issue with the Elite Four right now. They all fight the same, hitting hard and looking pretty," Serra grumbled, making a motion as if to cross her arms, but one of them was now in a sling, making that act very difficult to achieve. What she ended up with was one arm across her chest and the one in the sling shifted over slightly to the right. To keep from staring, Red looked at Soren, who was circling around her feet with his ears twitching anxiously. He must've been worried about her. The worry made a lot of sense, though. It was already pretty obvious that Serra wasn't going to heal as fast as Green had. This place probably didn't have the advanced equipment a real hospital had.

"I guess you have a point," Red looked back to the battle, with Citron doing surprisingly well against her opponent, persevering through the rather brutal type disadvantage she had. Any type with an immunity is going to automatically do crazy well, but she kept going. He couldn't really imagine the current Elite 4 being able to deal with something like that quite so well. Particularly Bruno, who was the one who relied on powerful STAB attacks the most out of all of them. His Fighting-types would wilt against any powerful Ghost-type.

"Do you wanna battle me? I haven't had one in awhile, since these two have Pokemon that are five times my levels and all," Serra suggested. She looked happy that she'd thought of it.

"Picking on an easy target, eh? My highest level Pokemon is only level ten. I know for a fact that Archer and Soren are fourteen and fifteen," Red said in a joking tone. Since he had no idea what levels her other two Pokemon were, he knew he still had some kind of chance, even with her wide range of types that he'd noticed.

"If you don't want to, that's fine," she looked almost embarrassed, as if she'd been caught doing something wrong. The joke had completely gone over her head.

"No, I was just kidding. I'll battle you. Three on three?" Red confirmed, wondering why she had missed it, especially with his tone of voice.

"Alrighty then. Just gimme a second to round up my team," Serra ran off to look for her Pokemon as soon as she finished speaking. Red himself went into the main building to retrieve Furi and Piyo. After all, he would need his full team for this battle. Riza couldn't do everything. The two of them seemed excited when he told them they were gonna be in a battle, coming with him back to the battlefield. It looked like Ed and Kendrah were still going, and somehow Serra had beat him to the battlefield, even though she had more Pokemon to find than him. Maybe they had been close by. The only one that was visible at the moment was Soren, who seemed to be napping at her feet. The Zorua seemed to be the closest to her out of all four of her Pokemon from what Red had seen.

"I beat you here Slowpoke. Looks like things are already looking to my favor. Finnegale, let's go!" Serra sent out her first Pokemon right off the bat. The little Trapinch that Red had seen the day before came out, burrowing quickly into the ground. Ground-type probably, but he quickly scanned her with his Pokedex just in case. He didn't look at much of the other available info because he didn't want to give himself an unfair advantage or anything.

"I was right. Gotcha. Then I'll send out Piyo," Red decided on his battler, who flew out onto the battlefield. She let out a battle cry that sounded slightly fiercer than really freaking adorable.

"Let's start out then. Use Bite!" Serra called out to her partner. Rather than responding immediately like most other Pokemon Red had seen battling, Finnegale actually burrowed deeper into the ground. There were a few tense seconds before she finally burst out of the ground, closing her jaws around Piyo's right wing. Surprised, the Pidgey hadn't had time to react, and they both started to go down.

"Piyo, shake her off!" Red tried to get Piyo to get out of there, but there was no escape from Finnegale's incredible jaw strength. Not a surprising fact, considering the Pokemon was mostly head.

They hit the ground not long after, with Finnegale releasing and burrowing back down. Piyo took back to the air as soon as she shook herself out, favoring her right wing ever so slightly. Though she would easily be able to power through it, Red still felt a little bit of worry. The bite had been strong enough to actually hurt her. He had thought that kind of thing didn't happen in battles.

"We've gotta keep an eye out, alright? She's gonna be hard to hit," Red warned her, receiving a nod as confirmation.

"Let's go again then. Use Bite," Serra's voice was more stilted this time, almost hesitant. Red could tell she was trying to keep it down, but it was still noticeable.

"Keep alert. We won't fall for this again," Red kept an eye out as well, ready for when Finnegale burst out of the ground. "Behind you! Gust!"

This time Piyo was ready for the attack, flitting away more easily. Then she flapped her wings hard, generating strong winds to blow Finnegale away. The slightly larger Pokemon was blown to the ground, rolling over before once again diving into the ground. Red noticed that the other holes had already filled back in, only noticeable by the upturned soil.

"Good job evading my strategy, but can you dodge this? Use Feint Attack," Finnegale compiled far faster than the other two times she attacked, moving right out of Piyo's sight. It was a move that Red hadn't heard of before, so he was on watch for shenanigans.

"Piyo, look out!" Red called, but the bird Pokemon seemed to be looking everywhere except for where Finnegale actually was. It was almost frustrating to watch as she didn't see the Ground-type until she was being knocked out of the sky. He guessed that weirdness was the shenanigans that he'd been expecting. "What happened?"

"The good thing about Feint Attack is that it never ever misses. Kinda like Aerial Ace but Dark-type instead," Serra mentioned a more commonly known move to explain how Feint Attack worked to Red. So now he at least somewhat knew what had happened. It was too bad there wasn't much he could do to keep it from happening again. Moves like that were always really useful to have in battle. He'd have to look into the movesets of his own Pokemon to see if they would be able to learn anything like that.

"Looks like you've got a lot of things for us to watch out for. Let's bring it all down a notch. Use Sand Attack," Red called out to Piyo. He figured lowering Finnegale's accuracy would only help his cause. Piyo quickly dove low to the ground, flinging sand into Finnegale's eyes. The Trapinch scrambled about in her hole, tripping over her own limbs. It was a perfect position for another attack "Follow it up with Tackle."

Piyo was already pretty close to Finnegale from the previous attack, so it wasn't long before she struck the Ground-type. Finnegale was sent out of her hole from the force, tumbling every which way. She came to stop not long after, digging her legs into the ground.

"Try to use Bite," Serra called to her Pokemon, who made the decision to leap straight for Piyo rather than going for a surprise attack like the other times. However, Piyo easily dodged it, leaving Finnegale in the dust.

"Tackle again," Red said. Piyo flew at Finnegale once more. This time went a bit different, though. As Piyo was right about to hit, Serra gave another command.

"Now, Bite again," she called out just as the two met. Sure enough, the attacks met, with Piyo doing all the aiming that Finnegale needed.

"Quick thinking, but how will you handle this? Piyo, fly up high. We want her to stay," Red hoped that his partner would be able to do this. She at least started off well, flying up as fast as she could. Her flight was somewhat hindered by the addition of a Pokemon that was definitely bigger than her, but it didn't slow down her determination.

"What in the world are you doing?" Serra asked, confusion writing itself across her face. It didn't look like she was going to predict what Piyo was going to do, which was good. Then again, Red wasn't sure if even Piyo knew what she was about to do.

"You're about to see. Piyo, use Tackle. Hit the ground," Red said. For a second, Piyo looked at him like he was insane, but she reversed course anyway. Her flight down was far faster than before, aided rather than opposed by the normally pesky gravity. Red noticed Piyo closing her eyes as they got closer, as if she couldn't bear to look. The two of them hit the ground hard. However, Piyo seemed to come away relatively unscathed. Like Red had planned, Finnegale had cushioned the impact for her.

"Holy crap! Finnegale, are you ok?" Serra looked mildly alarmed at what had happened. The Pokemon in question just nodded, picking herself up from the ground. "Alright then. If we're gonna go out, then let's do it with a bang. Use Bide."

Finnegale took on a white glow around herself, settling into a defensive stance. That seemed to be the only thing, though. She didn't do anything else, which made Red wary. After all, every move had to do something. Except Splash. That one didn't do anything.

"Use Gust," Red decided to test the waters with a long ranged attack. He wasn't sure what Bide did, so he wanted to be careful. Piyo seemed to get the memo, sending a gust of wind at Finnegale. The attack didn't send her flying like the other times, but it was clear that her legs were quavering. She was struggling to stay up.

"Come on, you can do it," Serra called to her Pokemon. However, it wasn't enough. After Red called for another attack, the next Gust knocked Finnegale out. With a distressed look on her face, Serra took a deep breath and returned her Pokemon to the Pokeball. "You did great," Red heard the whisper before Serra placed the Pokeball on her belt.

"Piyo, can you keep going?" Red called to his Pokemon. She nodded, choosing to stay on the field rather than passing off the battle to another Pokemon.

"If that's the case, then it's Missy's turn," Serra sent out her next Pokemon, the black and white lizard from the day before. Red vaguely remembered that Serra had called her a Salandit, a Pokemon from Alola or Kalos or something. Now he could see the Pokemon a bit more closely. The icicle protrusions on her tail made it clear that she was some sort of Ice-type. The reddish glow was still there, and now he noticed some odd tufts of what looked like fur around her neck and limbs. It was quite the strange trait for a lizard.

"Piyo, start out with Gust. She doesn't look very heavy," Red called out an attack. He knew that Piyo was tired, so he wanted to get in as much damage as he could before his next Pokemon. They'd hit as fast and hard as she could manage.

Piyo fired the attack quickly, blowing over Missy, who gripped the ground with sharp claws to avoid being blown away. Her tail lashed about, causing the icicle spikes to clink together. Now that there had been a break in the battle, Red noticed that Piyo had a sort of aerial limp as she flew from the bite earlier. It must've hurt a lot.

"Let's retaliate. Use Icy Wind," Serra called to Missy, who responded by blowing ice cold wind flecked with small bits of ice towards Piyo. Because of the wide range, Piyo couldn't fly far enough out of the way to dodge. As the wind blew over her, the bits of ice lodged in her feathers, clumping together and causing her to slow down quite a lot. "Good job."

"Are you ok?" Red asked. This kind of threw a wrench in his plan. It's hard to hit hard and fast if the fast part of the equation was subtracted. He had no idea how to deal with this yet, though he knew he had to figure it out. Too many attacks had special effects like that to just ignore.

Piyo let out a cry of affirmation, but it sounded a bit strained. It wasn't surprising to hear. The previous matchup had probably been tiring, and she'd just taken a supereffective hit. For a second, Red wondered if he should pull her out of the battle anyway, but she had chosen to stay on. He wasn't going to undermine her decision like that.

"Come on, again. Use Scratch this time," it looked like Serra was taking ahold of the strategy that Red had planned to use. In response to the order, Missy leapt up from the ground. Piyo tried to bat her away with a wing, but her slowed actions made it difficult. It was easy for Missy to rake her claws over Piyo's feathers, dealing a decent amount of damage.

"Use Tackle to drive her into the ground," Red called out, knowing that it was far too close of a fight to use Gust at the moment. With a sharp strike by Piyo, Missy was sent into the ground, her tail trailing behind her almost comically.

"Get back up. Use Icy Wind again," Serra seemed bothered by the prospect of Missy taking a hard hit like that. Then again, with the speed and attack power that the small Pokemon had displayed, it was unlikely for her to have very high defense stats.

That Salandit rolled back over onto her belly so that she was at least right side up before letting out her freezing breath again. This time, Piyo couldn't withstand the attack with so few hit points left, and she plummeted to the ground knocked out.

"Piyo!" he cried out, briefly feeling an odd jolt of panic seize him. He had to remind himself that it was just a battle, and Piyo would be fine. It was the first time he'd felt like that having one of his Pokemon knocked out, and he wondered what was wrong. After all, being knocked out was completely normal for a Pokemon, a biological reaction to taking large amounts of damage. She'd lasted against two Pokemon with the second one having a type advantage. If anything, he should be proud of her for doing so well. Once he calmed down, he smiled, returning Piyo to her Pokeball. He briefly held it over his heart before placing it on his belt.

"Isn't it a bit early in your career to be experiencing knockout panic?" Serra looked at him with concern.

"Experiencing what now?" Red had no idea what she was talking about.

"You faltered there after Piyo got knocked out. I could see it in your posture and your face. It's something that happens to trainers with strong bonds with their Pokemon," Serra explained, accentuating her words with sweeping hand motions. "I get it too. With practice it gets a bit more manageable."

"How do you practice panicking?" Red grumbled, wondering if that was going to impact his well being. At least it seemed to mean that he was developing a strong bond with his Pokemon.

"There's a lot of coping methods. That and some trainers just get used to it. Just be careful. It gets a lot worse if your whole team gets knocked out. That's when it progresses to whiting out. It's odd though. The earliest most trainers start experiencing this stuff a few weeks in. If my estimations are correct, then you've only been with your Pokemon a few days," Serra's concern had turned into confusion now that Red had proven to be ok.

"Then how come you get it? You can't have been a trainer much longer than me if they're such low levels," Red complained.

"Actually, I've been with these guys for quite awhile. We just don't battle often enough for it to show," Serra brushed off the sentence with a strangely large amount of nonchalance, as if she was blowing the emotion out of proportion on purpose. "Anyway, we should continue the battle. I think Missy is bored."

"Alright then. Furi, it's your turn," Red said to his Caterpie. It was a little while before Furi had crawled off of Red and onto the battlefield. In that time, Missy seemed to almost be dozing, like Soren still was (impressive considering the noise). Thankfully, Furi's knowledge of the move String Shot would make up for his lack of speed.

"Interesting choice there. I kinda expected you to go for your Charmander," Serra said with a mischievous tone in her voice.

"Why's that?" Red wondered, looking curiously at Missy, as if she was somehow going to answer him.

"Missy use Ember," Serra used an attack command as her reply, leaving Red to scramble to get together some kind of thought. Missy opened her mouth, letting loose a series of brightly glowing embers rather than the icy blasts from before. When hit, Furi recoiled from the burning hot embers, attempting to hide himself in some of the longer grass. "She's not only an Ice-type but a Fire-type too." Serra stuck her tongue out at Red.

"Well now you tell me. Be careful Furi. We'll start off with String Shot," he hated to see Furi scared like that, but he knew that he couldn't just switch to Riza for an easier time. Learning to deal with type disadvantage would be something they'd need to learn for their first gym battle. Limiting Missy's speed would be a good idea, preventing her from taking advantage of her natural strengths and making her easier to hit. Things like that were even more important now that Red's fighter was the one with a disadvantage.

Furi sprayed his strings over Missy, whose movement speed was slowed drastically. It was far more effective at lowering speed that Icy Wind had apparently, and already she could barely move. Her tail still lashed about dramatically though, as if she were trying to hit something with it. Even though she did successfully tear some of the strings, it wasn't exactly prime escape skills.

"Ember again," without moving, Missy let out a stream of glowing embers at Furi once again, who took the hit better than last time. Rather than flinching a way, he merely cringed, keeping his eyes trained on Missy. It was still clear that Missy topped Furi in terms of strength, so they'd have to rely far more on strategy than before.

"Use String Shot again. We don't want her to move at all," Red said again. Furi sent out more threads, hitting Missy even easier than he had before. It was really odd. This Pokemon wasn't battling nearly as strategically as Finnegale had, getting hit by a detrimental move she could have easily dodged. Sure, she could hit hard, but Serra had been the one to complain earlier about the Elite Four battling that exact same way.

"Let's bring you down to our level. Use Icy Wind. Freeze him in his tracks," Serra said. As Missy inhaled in preparation for the attack, Red decided on his own move.

"Use Tackle straight through it," Red knew that Furi could move a bit faster while augmented by the energy of the attack, which would serve them all well. Just as Red had planned, Furi went straight through the cold breath that Missy blew to strike her with a hard tackle. The lizard Pokemon was knocked aside, and Red could now see that the ground that had been below her was coated in a generous layer of frost. Were her scales seriously that cold? Maybe a full frontal attack wasn't the best idea. Then again, Tackle was the only damaging move that Furi knew at the moment.

"Use Scratch now that he's close," Serra seemed oddly inclined to favor the move Scratch in that situation even though either of her other moves would serve to be more powerful, with their added effects and STAB. Icy Wind was even an easy move to hit close range targets with considering its hugely wide range. Scratch was the least viable out of the moves she'd used so far.

Using her tail to right herself, Missy lashed out at Furi with dark blue claws, strikingly clear against her black scales. The fact that Missy had to move gave Furi enough time to twist around so his back rather than his belly was exposed to the attack. Red found himself biting his lip as the attack unfolded. Even though Furi's wounds from the day before were now fully healed, there was this irrational fear that they would reopen. After all, it had only been a day. He wondered if this worry was in any way related to the knockout panic that Serra had mentioned before. It seemed like a trip to the Pewter City library was in order once Red and his team were out of Viridian Forest.

"Furi, try to get out of there," Red called, but Serra seemed to have other plans.

"Grab him and use Ember," she called out, leading to Missy grabbing Furi around the middle. The small lizard Pokemon even used her tail, wrapping it firmly around the squirming Caterpie. As if in reaction, Red felt Riza draw her tail around his own middle. It felt oddly like a hug, even though Riza's tail wasn't quite as flexible as the Salandit was demonstrating. Missy lost no time in releasing her embers right at Furi. The close range seemed to cause some detriment as there was immediately rebound. She had to close her eyes to prevent debris from flying into them. The still burning hot particles sizzled loudly on her scales, cementing how cold she was to the touch.

"Try to wiggle out of there," Red said, knowing that if Furi didn't escape, he was a sitting duck. Thankfully, in his thrashing, he managed to hit Missy right on the nose with his flailing head, and she let go, hissing and spitting almost like a cat in her surprise. Furi backed off more quickly than Missy could recover, shivering from the cold grip he'd just escaped from.

"Use Tackle again, but try to keep out of her reach this time," Red called out. Furi crawled around to hit Missy from behind, and she really couldn't do much to stop him from doing so. Even if two String Shots wasn't much, she was small enough that it caused her a lot of problems. Red noticed that she was once again whipping her tail around, trying to tear off more of the strings, but she couldn't really turn her head far enough to see what she was doing.

"Ember once more," Serra said. Yet again, she let loose her Embers, finally knocking Furi to the ground, where he did not get up. As the small Pokemon laid slumped on the ground, Red braced himself for the deep, irrational panic that he knew would come again. However, he wasn't prepared for the fact that came stronger that time. He could barely choke out the words he used as he returned Furi to his Pokeball, once again holding the small device over his heart. He took a few seconds trying to steady his breathing before he tried to do anything else. He'd really need to get a handle on this business before it started causing real issues. It was bad enough that he wondered why no one had ever told him about it. Or maybe it had been in Professor Oak's class that he'd missed because tragic circumstances.

"Great job Missy. Your second knockout today! Looks like we're making a comeback," Serra grinned, though there was a hidden concern that showed through. Red guessed he was being really obvious about the whole panic thing. It wasn't like he could really be discreet about it, though. At least it was a common thing, so there were probably plenty of people who could help him.

"Well, Riza. Looks like it's finally your turn," looking very pleased with herself, Riza leaped onto the battlefield, taking a stance on all fours. She grinned, baring her teeth in a display of aggression. Once again, it was some really cute aggression, although Red definitely preferred the tail sweep she sometimes did. "Why don't you start off like we usually do?"

Riza jumped into the air to use Dragon Dance, wreathing herself in colorful flame. With the way she launched herself, she landed right next to Missy, ready to attack. The smaller lizard, still bound up in a multitude of strings, tried to scramble away but was having a hard time. She moved so slowly that it almost didn't matter at all.

"Try to use Scratch," Serra called to her Pokemon.

"You too Riza," Red countered.

Both Pokemon rushed at each other with their claws ready for the attack. Well… at least Riza did. Missy seemed to try, but all she really did was flop over a bit. Of course, that didn't keep her from going at it when Riza landed on her. Within seconds, it had devolved from a proper attack into a messy pile of writhing limbs. The two Fire-types wrestled their way across the grass, each trying to gain the upper hand. With their respective stat changes, Riza had the obvious advantage, and for a moment it looked like she was going to come out of the tussle on top. That is until she let out what sounded like a screech of intense pain. Red immediately went on high alert, since he'd never heard one of his Pokemon make a sound like that in a proper battle. Upon inspection, it became clear that Missy had bitten hard onto Riza's tail. It hadn't even been a real attack, just bare teeth.

"What the hell?" Red shouted, rushing forward. He knew that Pokemon battles weren't supposed to involve real injuries. The worst that was ever supposed to happen was someone's Pokemon getting knocked out. That was more a drain on their energy rather than any sort of physical wounds. In any official tournament, a move like that would've resulted in immediate penalty.

"Missy, no! Get off!" Serra berated her own Pokemon, her face displaying some sort of distressed emotion that Red didn't recognize. She then went straight for the two battling Pokemon and picked Missy right up out of the fight without missing a beat. She didn't even get hit by anything. When the small Pokemon wrapped her ice coated tail around Serra's arm, the girl's expression turned to something that was a bit more familiar. She looked like she was in pain from Missy's touch. "I'm so sorry. That's not supposed to happen. She really does know better. I don't know what happened," she sounded worried and apologetic with a bit of pain in there.

"Then what was the big deal? She hurt Riza," Red said with a tad bit more force in his words than he'd intended. He picked up Riza, who was bleeding freely from the bite wound that seemed to be about halfway down her tail. For a second, he checked her over to make sure nothing else was wrong, vaguely noticing that Kendrah and Ed had approached.

"This one has a bad habit of adopting Pokemon with rather violent histories," Kendrah ruffled Serra's short hair, looking with mild concern at the lizard Pokemon wrapped around the shorter girl's good arm. In response, she transferred Missy to her middle, grabbing one of Ed's hands with her good arm proceeding to attempt to hook her bad one around one of Kendrah's. Rolling her eyes, Kendrah obliged Serra's attempts.

"Violent histories?" Red wasn't sure he wanted to hear anything about that. Sure, Pokemon battling was by nature violent, but the way Kendrah had said it made him imagine all manner of dangerous activities that could get the Pokemon seriously injured.

"Missy and Archer were rescued from fighting rings that the police took down. We got the Pokemon to rehabilitate, and Serra adopted the two of them. Though she still won't tell us where Soren came from. Be glad you didn't battle him. He's the worst of the bunch," Kendrah said again, prompting Soren to open his eyes and growl at her. How long had he been awake? Red had no idea.

"Anyway, you should get your Pokemon looked at. Especially Riza," Serra looked embarrassed again, quickly changing the subject to something different. She waited for Soren to climb up onto her shoulder before dragging Ed and Kendrah back towards the house.

Red went over as well, holding Riza's tail out over the ground. Thankfully, the bite marks didn't seem to be all that deep. They were still bleeding, but not quite so much anymore. By the time they got to the house, it had stopped dripping altogether, leaving a nasty crust of dried blood around where it had been dripping. That would need to be cleaned up, but at least she didn't seem to be in a lot of pain. As he entered, he saw that Serra had decided to wait for him by the door for some reason, accompanied only by her Pokemon.

"I figured I'd wait for you so we can go in together. That way, I can take the brunt of Shelly's annoyance," Serra said. She'd apparently transferred Missy from her arm to around her middle, leaving angry, red marks to be seen where the Pokemon had originally placed herself. At least now, there was clothing between Missy and Serra's skin.

"Thanks," Red said back, looking with concern at the marks. They didn't look very pleasant, to the point where Serra was probably still in some kind of pain.

"No problem. I mean, it's the least I could do after the mishap with Missy," she said growing more awkward as time passed. She grabbed one of Red's arms and pulled him into the infirmary, where Shelly and Amaranth could be found checking some machines. Other than that, they didn't seem to be too busy. Red noted that the Rattata from the day before was nowhere to be seen.

"Let me guess. You hurt yourself again," Shelly looked over with an expression that dared Serra to try and dispute her. Now that there wasn't a million people in the room, Red could tell that she looked very Mediterranean, with dark hair and eyes and tan skin.

"Actually, someone else got hurt. Missy had a bit of a mishap," Serra apparently dared to dispute Shelly, who despite her rather short stature, looked rather intimidating. "I bring proof," she pointed at Riza, who made a large point of wailing in pain and wiggling her tail. Brilliant acting if Red did say so himself.

"Again? I've told you already to stop battling with them. Finnegale is the only safe one," Shelly sighed in an exasperated manner.

"And I've told you already that they get restless when I don't battle with them. It's what they like to do. Plus, battling with just one Pokemon is no fun," Serra shot back.

"Then catch more Pokemon! Or better yet, adopt one from here. Is it really all that hard?" the stark differences between the two girls were made even more obvious by their argument, with one darker and muted and angry while the other was bright and cute and obviously holding back tears. It was the fastest Red had ever seen someone go to almost crying in his whole life.

"Um… can you please look at my Pokemon?" Red took a chance and put himself between the two girls, interrupting their argument. He could tell from Shelly's almost tired sort of tone that this was something they argued about on a regular basis. Did Serra's Pokemon really injure their opponents that often? The sheer absurdity of it all baffled him. Outwardly, she seemed to be somewhat of an incompetent trainer who couldn't keep her Pokemon under control, but then it seemed like Finnegale didn't have any of the same problems that the other three did. Plus, the fact that the day before, she'd handled herself and her Pokemon like a pro against the Kangaskhan made it all the more confusing.

"Of course," Shelly gestured for Red to put Riza on a steel table covered in some sort of cloth. He followed her directions, placing the small Pokemon down. Though, he did have to detach her claws from his shirt when she didn't want to just stay on the table by herself. Something that was very noticeable was how she held her tail up and away from herself, curled inwardly around the wounded section. It looked like a very awkward position to be in.

Shelly looked at Riza's tail, grabbing a wet towel to clean it with. Most of the quickly drying blood came off fairly easily, and the bite marks were revealed in their full glory. They looked far smaller when they weren't crusted in blood like that. It was something that would probably heal in a day or two for her, no worse than the cut Red had gotten from Piyo.

"This shouldn't take too long. Just a little jump start, some bandages and you'll be good to go," Shelly seemed to talk to Riza that time rather than Red, clearly well versed in what she was doing despite her young age. "Amaranth, gimme a Heal Pulse," As she retrieved bandages, Amaranth gathered a somewhat amalgamous ball of light pink energy together, holding it closely over Riza's tail. The bleeding finally stopped completely, allowing Amaranth to wipe away the last of the oozing blood, and Riza didn't seem to be in pain at all anymore. That's what Heal Pulse did after all. It worked similarly to a Potion, using energy rather than chemicals to restore another Pokemon's energy and speed up their natural healing process, with a bit of an added benefit of relieving a lot of pain. In fact, certain purist trainers forgoed manmade Potions completely in favor of using berries and keeping Pokemon with Heal Pulse or other similar moves like Aromatherapy on their teams. Since the move obviously didn't heal the wound completely, Shelly swooped in with her bandages.

"Thank you," Red said once she was done, looking over Riza one last time to make sure nothing else was wrong.

"I can look at that too if you want," Shelly pointed at Red's forehead as she cleaned up. It must've been really obvious that he'd tried to treat his cut from Piyo himself.

"Didn't you say that you're a Pokemon doctor?" Red asked. He remembered how she'd made a big fuss about it the night before.

"Cuts and scrapes are pretty much the same, really. Humans and Pokemon heal the same way. Pokemon just do it faster. I can do something like this easy," Shelly said, sending a glare at Serra, who was absentmindedly petting Soren in the corner. Weirdly enough, it was the Pokemon who glared back rather than the person Shelly was actually glaring at.

"Oh, yes please. I've been too nervous to touch it," Red admitted, remembering how much it had bled. It was odd that he hadn't even noticed until Riza had pointed it out.

"Well, then let me take a look," Shelly walked forward to peel off Red's poorly done bandage. He winced as the tape pulled at his skin, almost immediately hearing a loud hiss from Riza once the wound was visible. "Yea, I agree. That's nasty. When did this happen?"

"Two days ago. It was an accident. Piyo, my Pidgey, got my trying to get something else," Red explained, wondering how Shelly could so easily understand Riza. It must've been an experienced trainer thing, since all he got was that she was upset. He winced again as Shelly started wiping at it. Like with Riza, the towel came away dark with dried blood.

"What did you clean this with? It's barely started healing at all. Really, it looks like I caught it just in time to stop an infection," Shelly said as she cleaned.

"Er… peroxide?" by this point, Red was questioning his own ability to take care of himself. After all, this was a simple cut, and he'd messed it up that badly?

"No, no, no. Never do that. Peroxide will kill the healthy cells that are trying to heal and make it worse. You should just use water," Shelly exclaimed, stinging with her bluntness.

"Well, no one ever told me that," Red felt Riza cling to his clothes, as if she could tell that he was mildly upset. She held her flame close to him for some reason. Not that he was complaining; it was very warm. A bit warmer than it usually was in fact.

"That's why I'm telling you now," Shelly put her towel down, which Amaranth quickly came to grab. "I'm going to put some goo on this, just in case," she reached to grab a small silvery packet of something. For a second, she stopped to gather her hair back, since some of it had spilled over her face. It looked kind of like a waterfall over her shoulder now, with blonde highlights streaking the bottoms.

"Goo? What's that?" Red asked.

"Just some antibacterial medicine. The real stuff, not peroxide. It'll keep out infection. Normally, I'd wait until the infection is there to start treating it, since we don't want superbugs or anything, but I don't really want to take any chances with this," she spread the gooey substance over Red's forehead. Unlike the peroxide, this stuff didn't sting at all. It was mostly just cold and slimy. Then, she put a fresh bandage over it, making sure to tape it down securely.

"Thank you again," Red reached up to feel it, noting that it seemed far more well done than when he'd tried it. Benefits of seeing a professional, he figured.

"No problem at all! I'll give you some of this stuff so you can take it with you. Make sure to change the dressings twice a day, in the morning and at night. Then, once you get to Pewter City, you can get it checked out again just in case," Shelly handed a few more packets of the goo to Red along with her instructions. Armed with his new knowledge, Red nodded and grabbed his bag to place them into his first aid kit.

"I'll keep that in mind," Red grinned.

"You'd better. I don't want you back here complaining to me if it gets infected," it was strange. The group of friends, including Shelly at that moment, was already treating him as if they'd known him forever. It wasn't at all like how he'd met Green, who'd acted as if Red didn't exist the first few times they'd met. It all was almost overwhelming after only having Green as a friend his whole life. However, it was also something he kinda liked. It would be nice to have friends like these.

"Yea. Oh, can you check out my other two Pokemon as well? They both got knocked out," Red pulled the Pokeballs off of his belt, looking at the Pokemon inside. They both looked like they were sleeping peacefully, a stark contrast to the fierce battle that they'd just fought in.

"Of course," Shelly plucked both balls out of his hand and placed them in a machine that looked kind of like the ones used at Pokemon Centers. It looked somewhat older, though, with hints of dirt and rust covering certain parts.

"You guys are pretty well equipped for being so far out in the middle of nowhere," Red noticed.

"We're actually funded by the Pokemon League. When the police find possible instances of Pokemon abuse, they call us in. We're in no way official or run by them. We just have a bit of an agreement, but the funding they give us helps quite a lot. We even have trained rehabilitators, though I'm the only doctor," Shelly explained as the machine did its job. It seemed to be taking quite a lot longer than the ones that could be found at Pokemon Centers, which confirmed the idea that it was an older model.

"Gotcha," Red decided to scoop Riza into his arms rather than letting her keep hanging like she had been. It was quite a bit warmer like that, since she didn't need her tail for balance while he held her. She seemed to like wrapping it around him, letting the flame heat up just enough to be comfortable when she did.

A few seconds later, Shelly retrieved Red's Pokemon, "Ok, you're all set to go," she gave a thumbs up as she handed them back.

"Thanks again," Red grinned, placing the Pokeballs on his belt. As much as he wanted to see them and ask how they were doing, there was very little room in the infirmary. Most of the already small space was taken up by Shelly's equipment and a few empty hospital beds that were shoved into a corner. He'd let his partners out once he got outside.

"Make sure to visit again. Maybe minus the injuries. I'm already tied up enough with her here," Shelly pointed at Serra, who didn't react much to the jab. However, her Pokemon did again, prompting her to respond.

"You be quet. You're upsetting Soren," she grumbled, squeezing the small Pokemon. Shelly only rolled her eyes.

"Anyway, I think it's time for me to go. Goodbye," Red waved back to Shelly as he walked out of the room. On the way, Amaranth came to move beside him, holding out a flower with white petals.

For you, a voice went through his mind, almost as if it was one of his own thoughts. However, there was also an odd, foreign sensation that came with the intrusion, one that made it clear that it had come from the Gardevoir.

"Er… thank you?" the sensation of Amaranth's telepathy was mildly off-putting, something he wasn't used to but also something that seemed oddly familiar at the same time. He'd never spoken to a Psychic or Ghost-type Pokemon in this manner, though, so he had no idea where the familiarity came from.

You're very welcome, Amaranth gave a small smile before moving back to stand beside Shelly again. The graceful Pokemon barely even seemed to touch the ground while moving, which only made the motion seem all the more elegant.

"Oh yea. He likes to give flowers to friends. He grows them himself in his garden," Shelly explained.

"He?" Red looked at Amaranth with confusion. He could've sworn male Kirlia evolved into something else, a Pokemon that had been discovered in Sinnoh or something. He was pretty young when the discovery had been made, but he still remembered the uproar about it.

"We were a bit surprised to find out too. Male Gardevoir are actually surprisingly common. Especially since you need to get a Ralts from a few very specific breeders for them to evolve into Gallade," well that answered Red's question. Although it was odd that only certain Ralts could evolve into Gallade. He wondered why that was.

"Ok then. Always learning something new," Red smiled before walking out of the infirmary with Riza. It seemed that Serra had stayed behind, though with Shelly mad at her, he had no idea why. It seemed like there were a lot of things he didn't know, but this particular one wasn't any of his business.

Red figured that he'd say goodbye to the others and then make his way to Pewter City. This stop at the adoption center had taken plenty of time, and he needed to finish his trek through the forest at some point within the next decade. Once he was outside, he let the rest of his team out of their Pokeballs, happily noting how much more energy they had now.

"How are you guys feeling?" he asked, to be greeted by a chorus of happy sounds. Even Riza joined in with her growly vocalizations. "Well that's certainly good to hear. We're going to head back into the forest, so get your battling skills ready. There won't be any need to hold back since I don't have many Pokeballs left. Not until Pewter City at least." They would start training again in the forest. Red certainly wanted his team to go up a few more levels before facing Brock, especially Furi, who's small size would make the type disadvantage even worse.

It seemed the noise had attracted the attention of Ed and Kendrah, who were both outside with a few of their Pokemon. With them, he could see a Togekiss, Citron, Count Murderla and some sort of large dragon looking Pokemon that Red didn't recognize. It was dark blue and black and had three heads, two of which seemed to find themselves at the ends of armlike appendages.

"Hey," Red said as he walked up with his own team around him. Seeing his own unevolved Pokemon next to the powerhouses of the older teens was somewhat intimidating. For sure, they'd both been trainers for years, maybe even since before they'd been old enough to apply for their trainer cards.

"What's up?" Kendrah asked.

"I think I'm gonna leave soon. The break from my trip was nice, but I need to get back on the road to Pewter City before my mom starts thinking I got eaten by a Beedrill or something," Red replied. He didn't really have much way to contact his mother other than through Professor Oak, since she didn't have a Pokegear of her own. In fact, Flare didn't either. Red only really had one because his mom had gotten him one a few weeks before he'd been set to leave for his adventure so he could have at least some way to contact home.

"That's no problem at all. Good luck on your first gym battle. Brock certainly doesn't pull any punches. I think he was my fourth gym," Kendrah gave a smile of confidence, showing she believed in him. "Hopefully we'll see you around."

"Peace, dude," Ed said, probably the first words he'd spoken to Red in the entire time the younger trainer had been at the adoption center.

"Woah. You can talk?" Red decided to make a joke, hoping he wasn't crossing any boundaries with that.

Ed shrugged in response. "Wuffles likes you. You're cool in my book."

"What's a Wuffles?" Red seemed to have more questions than answers with these guys.

"You'll meet Wuffles in due time. Just know that her liking you is a very good thing. Now shoo. You have a gym battle to catch," Kendrah assured.

"What about Serra. Should I wait for her?" Red wondered.

"Nah. If she's getting chewed out by Shelly, then this is going to take quite awhile," Kendrah shrugged as well, an action that seemed to be a thing with these two.

"Alright then. Goodbye," Red waved to the two before turning to walk away from the adoption center with his Pokemon by his side. They were ready to continue their adventure.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Hello, I'm back. So, this chapter was supposed to be ready Monday, buuuuut I caught the flu. And then I caught pneumonia. Fun times. Everything sucks right now, including this chapter probably, but I wrote a lot of it while I was either in the middle of exam week or sicker than balls. I didn't take as much time as I'd like to edit, but *insert generic excuse here*. I hope all the manga fans who actually know who Blue and Yellow are don't hate me. I'm pretty sure I did a terrible job characterizing Blue in this chapter, and then there were also other things that I changed outright because I thought it would fit better with how I want this story to flow. Another thing, I have been using the Blue is the girl and Green is the guy version of the names. Does that confuse anyone? I do it like that because the first time I read the manga was a weird translation that kept their Japanese names, so it was Green Oak and Blue was the girl. It's just how I see them. However, I know that a lot of people think it as the opposite, so should I change it? Finally, I'm going to add on the character's teams onto the end of this chapter. It's been brought to my attention that with four main characters, it might be hard for people to keep track of the teams. I won't put it in every chapter probably. I think every time there's a major change to a team like a capture or an evolution, I'll add an updated version of their teams to the chapter. That way if anyone is confused, they can just go look.**

Blue had absolutely nothing against Viridian Forest. She never had and probably never would. However! Did the forest have to have so many freaking bugs? Blue didn't even dislike bugs. There were just so many of them.

"I hate this," she grumbled after about the millionth Caterpie. All she wanted to do was get through Viridian Forest, but every five milliseconds, bam! Another bug. It never ended, like one of those godawful sitcoms that all the middle aged women preached about. Except with bugs.

Blue's attention was brought away from her frustration and over to her Pokemon beside her when Fushi nuzzled against her ankle. When she looked down, the small Bulbasaur had the absolute cutest look on her face, and Blue really couldn't find it in herself to stay mad when her partner looked like that. And Fushi knew it too, putting on the adorable look as a way to comfort the brunette girl. Not that she wasn't cute normally, but the way she grinned with all her little teeth showing and the sparkle in her eyes that accompanied it was just irresistible. Blue smiled back to the Pokemon, grateful for the comfort. As hard of an exterior she often put on, she always knew how to appreciate cute Pokemon.

"Thanks. All these bugs can't be good for either of us," Blue said, reaching down her hand. It prompted Fushi to reach up with a vine as well, wrapping it around Blue's fingers. It was really the closest to holding hands they could get. The constant reminder that Fushi was there with her was a comfort in itself, so they'd decided to start doing this to help with all the annoyances of the world ever since the small Pokemon had learned Vine Whip. Most useful move so far, especially since Fushi wouldn't learn Poisonpowder for quite some time. That's really all she'd gotten to use her Pokedex for so far, looking up Fushi's moveset. She hadn't had the time to really explore the features what with the whole Team Rocket thing.

They kept marching through the forest, making Blue glad that she'd made the decision to wear pants rather than her usual dress. She never would've made it in that. At some point while she was musing about that, Fushi stopped for some reason, tugging on Blue's hand with her vines.

"Is something wrong?" she asked, looking down at the Pokemon.

Fushi made a croaking sound and rolled over with her eyes closed, as if to imitate a human resting. While the meaning was fairly clear, she needed a bit of help from Blue to get back up.

"You want to take a break? But we're almost there," Blue protested, "Come on, we'll rest when we get there."

Fushi rolled her eyes but kept going with Blue, apparently resigned to her trainer's stubbornness. To Fushi, a lot of this forest probably looked the same, having grown up in captivity, but Blue had trained her eyes to spot the telltale signs that they were nearing their destination. There were landmarks she recognized that most people would glance right over, such as oversized rocks or oddly deformed trees. To any normal person living in one of Kanto's bustling cities, the idea that people would live in a place like Viridian Forest, where there might be dangerous Pokemon around every corner, would be completely out of their realm of thinking, but there were definitely plenty. Blue had been through often enough to know that, although she had often been escorted by someone else. Thankfully, she didn't need that anymore with Fushi around. One of those people, who lived deep in the forest where people didn't often go, was who she was looking for, a man who had supposedly been born here and who had taken the name of Viridian for himself.

Blue stopped, her eyes searching for the next landmark when she noticed a rustling in one of the bushes. A closer look showed the tail of a Weedle poking out where the Pokemon was rummaging for food. She and Fushi tried to sneak past it, but the damn thing was far too observant for its own good. Once it noticed them, a Poison Sting showed them that it was all too ready for a battle.

"Damn it. We don't have time for this," Blue's face scrunched up in thought as she tried to think of a way out of the battle. "Fushi, pick it up with Vine Whip. Send it into a tree or something I don't care."

Fushi gave Blue a bit of an odd look before executing the orders. By the sound of it, the Weedle certainly hadn't been expecting a course of action like that.

"Hasta la bye bye beady boy," she said in a sing songy voice, earning even more weird looks from her partner. "What? I do have an image to maintain. Although, I'll admit that wasn't one of my best jabs. I'm not at the top of my game."

After that was more walking. There was so much of it, it was kind of ridiculous. There was almost more walking than there was bugs. At some point, Fushi looked bothered again, so Blue stopped for a second to pick her up.

"We're close. I promise," Blue assured, looking around and trying to find the cabin that she knew she would spot nestled between a few trees. "There!" she could see it now, made of wood and only really large enough for one or two people to live comfortably. She started to jog slightly, making sure that Fushi was secure in her arms. No need for her Pokemon to fall because of a silly mistake. One they had made it, Blue knocked lightly on the door and then waited for an answer. She didn't need to knock any harder, since she knew they'd hear her. The cabin wasn't all that large.

It wasn't long before someone did come to open the door, a girl only a couple years younger than Blue. Everything about her seemed to be reminiscent of the color yellow, with light blonde hair and wide open eyes that seemed to take in everything around her. Even her posture seemed to radiate an aura of naivety. It was all very amusing considering the fact that Yellow was the girl's name.

"Blue! Are you here to see uncle?" she asked, eyes darting down briefly to look at Fushi in Blue's arms. One thing that was always clear was that Yellow loved Pokemon.

"Why else would I be here? To count the gracideas?" Blue said back. Yellow smiled at that, even if it was somewhat sarcastic. She was probably happy that Blue had remembered her gracidea garden.

"Come in. He's out fishing right now, but you can wait inside," Yellow opened the door wider before backing off a bit, giving Blue room to come inside.

"Thanks kid," Blue flashed her winning smile to the younger girl as she sauntered in. The insides almost seemed smaller than the outside, but at least it was cozy and welcoming. There was a fireplace that cast a warm light across the single room, and it always seemed to be a great place, though the lack of privacy tended to skeeve Blue out. The girl herself darted to the back of the room as Blue closed the door, her eyes never leaving Fushi.

"Do you want to play with her?" Blue asked, noticing Yellow's interest in the Pokemon.

"Me? Yes please!" Yellow lit up like a lightbulb at the idea.

"Of course, you silly," Blue brought Fushi over to Yellow, placing her in the smaller girl's lap. It took a second of squirming before the Bulbasaur found a comfortable position.

"Oh, you're so cute!" Yellow immediately began to shower love upon Fushi, who reacted with snuggles and love of her own.

"Traitor," Blue joked, already having known they'd hit it off like that. Yellow had a natural talent with Pokemon, whether they were wild or trained. "By the way, where's Chuchu?"

"She's with uncle. I think she wanted to go swimming in the pond," Yellow replied before turning the rest of her attention to Fushi. They had apparently started playing some sort of game that involved a lot of clapping. The girl seemed so happy to just be around a Pokemon that it was too cute for Blue to handle. People like Yellow were rare.

Blue sat down against a wall, stretching out her arms and legs. She and Fushi hadn't stopped moving, except to sleep, since they'd gotten out of Viridian City, and the rest was nice. Here, she'd be able to finally do what she'd come to the area in the first place for. Plus, this would give Blue time to plan out her next few moves. She'd have to be even more careful now that Team Rocket had nearly gotten her. All for a tiny little rock that Blue honestly had no idea what to do with.

"You stole her!" Yellow suddenly burst out, going red right after as if she hadn't meant to say that.

Blue raised an eyebrow at Yellow, almost having forgotten about the girl's strange abilities. She didn't exactly flaunt them after all. "And?"

"Well, isn't stealing wrong? Especially stealing a Pokemon," Yellow shrunk a bit as she tried to justify her accidental outburst.

"Take a look again. I'm not the bad guy here," Blue suggested.

With a deep breath, Yellow closed her eyes and took on a look of concentration, supposedly looking into Fushi's memories. Apparently it was a thing she could do. The way Viridian, her uncle, had explained it had been confusing and had to do with Yellow being born in the forest, which seemed like really vague criteria to her. Personally, Blue thought the whole business was a bit strange, especially considering the girl didn't have any Psychic-type Pokemon. Still, Blue wasn't going to be the one to judge. She'd had enough of that business.

"You're right. I'm sorry," Yellow said after a few seconds. She had an apologetic look on her face, and Blue knew that she was telling the truth. Yellow just didn't lie all that often.

"No need. Just don't jump to conclusions before you have the full story," Blue closed her eyes after she spoke, content to let Yellow play with Fushi. The smaller girl was pretty much the first person Blue could trust with her Pokemon. Blue let herself think a bit. After this stop, she and Fushi would go on past Pewter City into Cerulean City. That would get her far enough away that she wouldn't need to be paranoid about Team Rocket. Although no need to be paranoid usually meant just slightly less to Blue rather than no paranoia at all. She was wired for it by this point. It kept her alive.

Eventually, she heard the sound of a door opening and closing, along with the squeaking of a Pokemon and heavy footsteps. Blue didn't even need to open her eyes to know that Viridian had arrived.

"Oh, Blue. How kind of you to pay us a visit. Although you could have sent a letter ahead," the man appeared middle aged, but Blue knew he was somewhat older, a fact evidenced by the streaks of silver running through his otherwise black hair. He was shorter than one would expect (probably where Yellow got it from) but also rather stocky from living in the woods for many years.

"You know how I feel about birds," Blue grumbled, referencing how letters were often sent via Flying-type Pokemon, which were usually birds of some sort. Even then, there were very few couriers who even knew the location on Viridian's cabin to deliver letters of that sort.

As Viridan walked further in, Blue noticed how Chuchu, the Pichu seated on his shoulder, darted down to the ground to greet Yellow. She had a bright red gracidea tucked behind one ear, presumably from Yellow's garden.

"Yes I do, and I also know that most Bug-types can fly too," Viridian settled down, preparing to cook some of the fish he had brought back. The rest went into a cooler that Blue knew had a Glaceon resting inside. Then, he cast his chocolate brown gaze towards Blue again, "Either way, I'm sure this isn't just a social call. You aren't like that."

"You know me so well. I actually have something to show you. I'm sure you'll find it interesting," Blue stuffed her hand in her pocket to retrieve the bright yellow gemstone that she'd stolen from Team Rocket. As she held it up for Viridian to see, it seemed to flicker with nearly unseen electricity as it reflected the light of the fire that lit up the room. It was almost mesmerizing to watch.

"Where in the world did you get that," Viridian asked, moving closer for a better view. There was a vague hint of recognition on his face, but the rest of his expression was difficult to read.

"I stole it from Team Rocket. I mean, that's where I usually get these things," Blue may have had a bad habit of stealing things from Team Rocket, like that one time she'd snuck in to steal some of a stockpile of evolutionary stones that they'd been keeping to sell to people who were actually going to use them. Seriously, they'd just been lying around. That time, the team hadn't even noticed. Of course, it was usually their fault for hiring dim witted thugs who couldn't recognize Blue if they were holding a photo of her. They were basically asking to be stolen from.

"Don't let them have it back," Viridian said with conviction in his voice. From the sound of it, it was pretty important, which was exactly what Blue wanted to know.

"Why, what is it?" Blue figured she'd press for as much information as she could. The more she knew about it, the more she'd know what to do with it, either to sell it or keep it for herself. However, for some reason, Viridian seemed to be beating around the bush.

"This stone is something that can become very dangerous in the wrong hands. Can you promise me that you will not let Team Rocket have it again?" the normally good natured man was being unusually serious. A quick look to the side showed that Yellow seemed interested as well, so she was unlikely to know anything. The kid was disguising her interest pretty poorly as well.

"I promise then. Not like I was going to give it back to them anyway, especially with all the trouble I went through to get it," Blue put the stone back into her pocket. "Can you at least tell me what it is?"

"Not yet. Normally I would, but in this case, the knowledge would be far too dangerous for someone of your skill level," Viridian refused. Based on the wording, though, Blue could tell he was referring to Pokemon battling. Even as Viridian tried to keep information away, she still managed to uncover some.

"I can take care of myself," Blue protested, knowing Fushi could back her up there.

"Not against a legendary Pokemon," Viridian said, his position set. He'd probably mentioned legendary Pokemon in an attempt to scare Blue. After all, everyone had grown up hearing stories of their immense power. The ability to cause blizzards, thunderstorms or even volcanic eruptions were all under the vast arsenal of the legends. Thankfully, Blue wasn't exactly dumb. She knew she couldn't take on a legend in her state. Caterpies were nothing next to something like Articuno. Plus, all three of the myths of Kanto told of enormous birds. Those were worse than a bad hair day.

"If you say so," Blue relented, letting Viridian win the argument. She knew there were other people that she could ask once she and Fushi had gotten stronger, maybe even gathered a few teammates. If it really had a connection to one of the legendary birds, that would be one of the greatest finds in the world, which meant she really wanted to know about it.

"You don't go looking for legends, right? You let legends come to you," Yellow grinned, probably pleased to have remembered one of her uncle's lessons.

"Yes, that is the truth," Viridian seemed pleased as well. There were so many pleased people. About fourth fifths of the people in the room to be precise.

"Speaking of legends, Team Rocket sure isn't letting the legends come to it. While I was there, I found some pretty interesting information that you guys might want," Blue continued.

"Information that you're just willing to give out?" Viridian changed tracks, listening intently. He was showing his shrewdness, since while he was usually very willing to freely give information that would be of aid to others, there were many that would sell this kind of information on the black market.

"If it helps put a dent in Team Rocket's plans, I'll do a lot of things for free," Blue immediately made a face as she realized how terrible that actually sounded. "Anyway, I managed to overhear a conversation between Ariana and Archer, and apparently they're looking for a Mew. Crazy, right?" everyone knew that Mew didn't exactly exist anymore. They'd been extinct for a long time, with only sparse, unable to be verified sightings for centuries. "Well, the main reason I brought this up is because they think there's one in Kanto, and they're bringing in a lot of their Johto branch to search for it. Even Proton and Petrel are coming."

"Thank you for the warning Blue. This isn't good news at all," Viridian mused. As far as Blue could tell, he was Yellow's only family, and he didn't want Team Rocket anywhere near her what with her crazy Pokemon mind reading and all.

"They aren't going to find us, right?" Yellow held Chuchu close for comfort. Since she'd lived in the relative safety of Viridian's cabin her whole life, any sort of bad news was probably alarming.

"No, they won't. We're hidden too well," Viridian assured, but Blue didn't miss the hint of worry that flickered across his face.

"Still, it would be good to prepare," Blue wasn't exactly keen on the idea of letting Team Rocket have any kind of advantage.

"How exactly would we do that? We're the most hidden we can be from those who don't already know of us," Viridian didn't seem to think that being found was even something that could happen. He was right. The cabin was underneath trees and couldn't be seen from the air. Unless you knew exactly what to look for it wasn't like they were near any sort of landmarks. Even the river was far enough away that Blue knew Viridian rode there on a Rapidash.

"Hide in plain sight maybe? Be where they least expect you? That's what I do," Blue shrugged, realizing that maybe her combative nature was getting the best of her, so she turned to her ability to defuse situations instead.

"Thank you for the input, but I think I know what's best for my family," it was pretty obvious that the conversation was closed now anyway.

"Alright then. I'm sorry if I've overstepped any boundaries," Blue looked out the window, realizing that she'd spent more time there than she'd thought. "I should get going. We really need to get as far away from Viridian City as possible." she stood up, Fushi walking to be beside her.

"Bye bye. Thank you for playing with me," Yellow waved to Fushi, sad that the Bulbasaur had to leave.

"We'll probably be back again. You two will be able to see each other again," Blue said, picking up Fushi. The Pokemon seemed happy at the idea of seeing Yellow again.

"Goodbye Blue. Good luck," Viridian wished the best for Blue, even if she'd been a tad bit rude to him earlier.

"Will you come see the gracideas before you go?" Yellow asked.

"Sure. I'll come see your flowers," Blue followed Yellow, who had already hopped up to run out the front door and around to the back of the cabin.

"They've been growing well this year. Some are even white and yellow, see?" she grinned, showing off the garden. Though it was small and disorganized, it was still very pretty, with the mostly red flowers and the occasional white or yellow one popping up. Most people just thought of the typical red variety when they thought gracidea, but Blue happened to like the white ones the best.

"This is a very pretty garden. You did a good job," Blue smiled at the younger girl.

"Thank you," Yellow stopped moving around to look at Blue, sporting a concerned expression on her face. "Do you really think Team Rocket will want to find me? They don't even know I exist."

Blue considered telling Yellow that everything would be just fine, but she didn't want to sugarcoat anything for anyone. "I think it's a possibility. There are a lot of people like me who come to your uncle for advice. I wouldn't put it past someone to tell them about you if they wanted information about your uncle," Blue explained. While only the people who directly visited Viridian knew who Yellow was, the man himself was practically famous for his wisdom.

"He doesn't seem to think it'll happen… Earlier, what did you mean by hiding in plain sight?" Yellow was now crouched down among the flowers, looking down at them.

"Don't stay in Viridian Forest. Go where it would be easier to find you because that's where they'll look last. Better yet, don't be you. Disguise as a boy or dye your hair. That's the best way to hide," Blue said, running her fingers through her hair to show Yellow where the ends were still darkened from the last time she'd dyed it.

"That sounds really scary. How do you do it?" Yellow made a worried face again, standing back up with something in her hand. It was weird seeing the normally cheerful girl like this.

"I guess I'm just used to it. Plus, it's better with company," Blue referred to her Pokemon. Things really were better with Fushi around, and the Bulbasaur seemed to be enjoying travelling with her so far, even if they really hadn't gone all that far away from Pallet Town.

Yellow nodded, taking in Blue's words. "When you go, you should take this with you. White gracideas mean good luck," Yellow held out a white flower with the stem twisted into a circle like a bracelet. It was well done; obviously she'd done something similar before. Blue took it and slipped it on her own wrist. The little circle was a bit loose, but it wouldn't fall off.

"Thank you," Blue smiled. There weren't enough people in the world like Yellow.

"Good luck," Yellow smiled back before going around to the front of the cabin again. Blue and Fushi were left alone in the gracideas, which meant it was time to leave.

"Come on. We've got a lot of ground to cover," Blue set off back into the forest with her faithful partner in tow.

 **Ok, time for some teams. If anyone thinks more information needs to be covered, just let me know.**

 **Red:  
** **Riza (Charmander, F)- level 11; Ability: Solar Power; Moves: Dragon Dance, Scratch, Growl, Ember, Smokescreen  
** **Piyo (Pidgey, F)- level 10; Ability: Tangled Feet; Moves: Tackle, Sand Attack, Gust  
** **Furi (Caterpie, M)- level 7; Ability: Shield Dust; Moves: Tackle, String Shot**

 **Green:  
** **Zeni (Squirtle, M)- level 11; Ability: Rain Dish; Moves: Aqua Ring, Tackle, Tail Whip, Water Gun, Withdraw  
Kora (Rattata, M)- level 9; Ability: Guts; Moves: Tackle, Tail Whip, Quick Attack, Focus Energy, Bite  
Otto (Pidgey, M)- level 9; ****Ability: Keen Eye; Moves: Tackle, Sand Attack, Gust** **  
Supia (Kakuna, F)- level 8; Ability: Shed Skin; Moves: Poison Sting, String Shot, Harden**

 **Blue:  
Fushi (Bulbasaur, F)- level 10; Ability: Chlorophyll; Moves: Tackle, Growl, Leech Seed, Vine Whip**

 **Yellow  
Chuchu (Pichu, F)- level 7; Ability: Static; Moves: Thundershock, Charm, Tail Whip**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Hello all you beautiful people. I realize that this is probably a suboptimal time to be posting a chapter, but I'm attempting to manage something at least resembling an upload schedule. As many Mondays as possible. I've managed to get most weeks for the past few, except for one week where I was sick with pneumonia.**

 **So guess what I have now. A proper editor. Many thanks to Vigorous Emperor from right here on this site for deciding to help me with this. He's not only editing chapters, but he's also contributing ideas, so I'm giving him credit in advance for anything he suggests in the future because there's no way I'm going to remember them all. Anyway, I hope you all like this chapter.**

Ever since Red had left the adoption center, Furi had been acting strange. While the small Caterpie was often snuggly, it was starting to get ridiculous. He was crawling all over Red, trying to burrow into the trainer's clothes and even Piyo's feathers one time. Not only that, but Furi was squirming and wiggling around. It made the trek rather uncomfortable, but Red had no idea what was going on. The other two weren't all that much help considering the fact that they couldn't exactly communicate effectively with Red. They might not even know what was happening. Red thought that at some point, he would need to catch a Psychic-type just to translate for the rest of the group. They went on like that for awhile, with Riza and Piyo doing all the battling. Furi stayed in Red's arms, swaddled in a blanket like some sort of squirmy, buggy baby.

After a few hours of that, Red's Pokegear went off in his pocket, buzzing a few times before going silent again. Fumbling with Furi slightly, he pulled the device out of his pocket with his free hand. Thankfully, the battery was full thanks to the stop he'd taken the night before at the adoption center. He opened up the messaging app to see that he'd been added to some kind of group chat by Kendrah.

 **K: Group chat!**  
 **S: Let it be known that this was my idea.**  
 **Sh: Wait, Serra, how are you even holding your Pokegear? I can see you holding Soren.**  
 **S: You'll never know my secrets.**

Red quickly typed a response, sitting down and moving Furi to his lap so he could use both hands. He didn't intend to spend too long in this conversation.

 **R: Er… hello?**  
 **E: Eyy.**  
 **S: Yay! You do exist!**  
 **K: Wassup.**  
 **R: Pretty convenient timing here actually. Furi's been acting funny.**

Red figured asking experienced trainers what was up would get him some answers. After all, Bug-types were some of the most common Pokemon, so the others were bound to have at least some idea.

 **S: What do you mean by strange?**  
 **R: He's been trying to burrow into my clothes.**  
 **S: Hmm…**  
 **S: I have no idea. Never trained a Bug-type before.**  
 **K: I think I know. He might be about to evolve. A lot of Pokemon act really strange right before they evolve.**  
 **Sh: Kenny is right. You need to find him a quiet, enclosed space. While a lot of Pokemon tend to act very aggressive right before evolution, there are a lot of Bug-types that actually try to find safe places.**  
 **E: What she said.**  
 **S: Do you think Finnegale is buggy enough?**  
 **Sh: No.**  
 **S: She kind of looks like a bug.**  
 **R: Thank you guys.**  
 **K: No problem.**  
 **Sh: You're welcome.**

Red noticed that Serra sent a few more messages after that, but he didn't really stick around to see them. Instead, he stuck his Pokegear back into his pocket, even though it vibrated a few more times. After a moment's deliberation, he decided that setting it to silent mode would probably be the best option for now. He had the information he needed. If Furi was trying to find a safe space to evolve, then Red would set up a tent.

"Guys, come here," he said to the other two Pokemon. It looked like they'd been playing with each other. Both of them stopped what they were doing, looking to Red for further direction. The immediate compliance in both of them was almost baffling. He wasn't exactly used to it. His little brother and Green had never been ones to listen to him when he asked them to do things, so the Pokemon were an odd change for sure. "We're going to set up the tent right off the side of the path. Furi is ready to evolve, but he needs a safe, enclosed space to do it, so we're going to make one for him," he explained to the others. Then, he carefully set down Furi, still wrapped up in blankets, and pulled the capsules holding tent components out of his bag. He set each Pokemon to a task, and they started to work. A few times, Riza would get distracted by a small bug or leaf, but most of the time, they all stayed on task. Before long, the tent was fully prepared.

"Good job guys," Red announced, holding the tent flap open for Riza and Piyo. The small bird Pokemon looked slightly uncomfortable going into such an enclosed space, but she went in anyway. Once they were in, Red picked up Furi to follow them.

"Alright, here you go," Red placed Furi on the ground, unwrapping the blanket that he was swaddled in. Carefully, the small Pokemon crawled onto the ground, observing his surroundings. He looked a bit odd, bathed in tinted light that was filtered through the bright yellow material of the tent. Then again, everyone else looked a bit odd too.

Almost immediately, Furi pointed his head up towards the sky and began to spew out threads of silk as if he was using String Shot. However, unlike the attack, he wrapped the threads around himself to create a surrounding layer of silk threads. Then, a bright white light burst through the silk, almost like a supernova, to reveal Furi's evolution into a Metapod.

"You did it Furi. I'm proud of you," Red congratulated his Pokemon, who seemed very happy with the outcome. Though he could no longer move, he did a lot of emoting with his eyes. Red hoped that it wouldn't be too difficult for Furi to adapt. He'd seen a lot of examples of Pokemon finding it difficult to adapt to their new evolution on TV, though he didn't know how accurate that was. "I think an event like this deserves a special treat."

Each of the Pokemon looked at Red curiously, Riza leaping onto his shoulder to get a better view of what he was pulling out of the bag. However, none of them could read the labels on the capsules he grabbed, so they had to wait until he opened them up to reveal what was inside. What it ended up being was a pile of colorful beans that looked a lot like oversized jelly beans. Most of them were all one color, but there were a few that had patterns on them or were even rainbow colored.

"They're called Pokebeans," Red told his partners. He'd gotten them from Professor Oak, who'd been visiting a cousin in Alola. Apparently, they were a very common treat in that region, and Pokemon loved them. He was about to find out if that was true.

Red divied up a few for each of his Pokemon, putting a few extra in Furi's pile since he was the one who evolved. "I've heard that these are really tasty, so dig in." Red pushed each pile towards the respective Pokemon. While the first few bites were a bit tentative, they all seemed to dig in with gusto once they realized how great the beans were. It made Red wonder how they tasted. He'd heard that there were some humans who liked to eat Pokebeans just as often as any Pokemon, but he was slightly skeptical about that. While the Pokemon ate, Red pulled out his Pokegear again. There were a few messages in there he hadn't seen, mostly from Serra. She seemed to love to talk a lot. Quickly, he typed out another message asking for information.

 **R: Metapod evolving into Butterfree is time based rather than level based, right?**

After a few moments, he got an answer.

 **Sh: Yes. It shouldn't be more than a week. Five days is the average.**  
 **R: Thanks again.**  
 **K: That means he'll be fully evolved for your gym battle, right?**  
 **R: Yea, against a Rock-type specialist. He'll have a 4x weakness.**  
 **K: I'm sure you'll find a way around it.**

Red sighed, spreading out the blanket before lying down on it. The first gym was going to be a tough one right off the bat. He'd have to figure out some kind of strategy to even have a chance. Since he was fairly sure he would only be allowed to use two Pokemon, he'd probably end up battling with Piyo and Riza. They both had more experience than Furi and only had a single Rock weakness rather than a double weakness.

All of a sudden, Riza jumped onto Red's chest, eliciting a loud 'oof' from the surprised trainer. He looked over to see her curling into a ball. She'd adjusted the heat of her flame to just hot enough to warm the inside of the tent, and her tail was curled around on top of her own back. It looked mildly uncomfortable, but Red realized that she probably didn't want to burn him again. A quick look around seemed to show that everyone else was ready for a nap as well. Furi hadn't even finished his Pokebeans. Maybe Red had given him too many.

"Hey, I thought we were gonna keep going," he said to them all. No answer. "All of you are lazy butts. One hour, then we're leaving."

It ended up being more like two hours before he was bored enough to fall asleep. They had all tired themselves out coordinating the tent.

* * *

The tiniest sneeze Yellow had ever heard sounded throughout the air as she blew dust off of an old toy she'd dug out of her crate. She hoped Chuchu didn't have some sort of dust sensitivity, but she didn't think the small Pokemon would. There was often dust in the cabin. It was probably just due to the fact that there was suddenly so much of it.

"Chuchu, are you alright," Yellow popped back out of the chest. She brushed her hand across one of Chuchu's ears just to make sure, feeling the connection between them open up briefly. It was just enough to be sure that she was ok. Despite that fact, Chuchu still shook her head in a denial that she had sneezed at all. "Are you sure about that?"

Chuchu crossed her stubby little arms and turned her head in denial. It was kind of funny, especially with how Yellow knew the truth. There was just no way uncle had made that sneeze, and all the other Pokemon were outside or in the freezer. That second one was referring to Glacier of course, who spent a lot of time in there and kept it cold. He had some sort of sensitivity to bright lights, so he slept in there during the daytime.

"If you really want to say so, I guess you might not have done it. I think whoever did do it has a pretty cute sneeze, though," Yellow grinned, lifting the toy she'd wanted out of the crate. It was a little model of a boat that they used to play with a lot in the water. She didn't really play with toys as often as she used to, since she spent most of her time around Pokemon, and she wanted to know if it still floated.

At the cute comment, Chuchu looked up again. Compliments were always a good way to get her attention. Not that she was vain, but they just made her happy. It was always good to see when Chuchu was happy, though sometimes she got a bit zappy.

"I knew you'd come around. Now let's see if Epona will bring us to the river," Yellow stood up, letting Chuchu climb onto her shoulder. Again, she smiled as she felt Chuchu's presence, a connection that she had with Pokemon and one that she'd never seen in anyone else. The small mouse Pokemon hopped around on her shoulders, urging her to go, so they went outside into the forest. Epona was a fairly easy Pokemon to spot considering she was on fire and all. She seemed a bit busy, though, being brushed by uncle. Yellow had forgotten that he'd come out to think over some things. Going to groom Epona when they wanted to do some thinking was a habit that they shared. Of course the eternally messy Rapidash never complained about that habit.

"Hello there Yellow. What brings you outside?" uncle held a second brush out to Yellow, who gratefully accepted it. Since it made her so happy, brushing Epona happened to be one of Yellow's favorite things to do. It was always enjoyable for everyone.

"We were thinking of going to the river to see if the old toy boat still floats, but Epona looks too content to ask for a ride," Yellow explained. She put the boat in the basket with all of the grooming brushes so it wouldn't get lost.

"That's a good observation. She's rather tired," uncle paused for a second before continuing. Yellow took the opportunity to begin brushing on the other side. Chuchu also moved, leaping up to sit on Epona's back. "I want to talk to you about something." An almost haunted look came over his face, as if he was thinking of something tragic, maybe a memory that he didn't want to remember or a decision he didn't want to make. That's kind of what it looked like. It made Yellow feel concerned.

"What's that?" Yellow was kind of hoping it didn't have anything with the Team Rocket news that Blue had brought earlier. Since Blue had left, she'd been doing her best not to think about it. She'd heard so many bad things about them from people who came to visit the cabin. Just the mere thought that they might discover her existence and want to capture her was very unnerving.

"How do you feel after hearing what Blue told us about Team Rocket?" uncle asked. Yellow made a bit of an odd face upon hearing about the topic. She really didn't want to think about them at the moment. Or ever for that matter. That sense of worry that Blue might've been right gnawed at her like a Rattata, and she didn't like that feeling at all.

Yellow kept brushing, resting her hand on Epona's flank to center herself. The older horse Pokemon wasn't bothered by many things, and not even the mention of people as bad as Team Rocket shook her. "I don't like the idea of them coming here. I've heard so many terrible things that they seem kind of scary." She wondered if she should say how worried she was about them finding her, but uncle probably already knew. It was almost as if he had powers of his own.

"That's a perfectly fine way to feel about them. Any news of Team Rocket should be met by a healthy dose of concern, but you must not let that fear dictate what actions you take to deal with it," uncle responded to Yellow's worries with his usual brand of wisdom. As usual, Yellow didn't completely understand what the meaning was, but she understood enough to know that it was important advice. "That is why I'm going to follow my own advice. This might be hard for both of us, but I don't think you can remain at home during this crisis."

"Crisis? What do you mean? Didn't you tell Blue that there wasn't anything to worry about?" Yellow was shocked by the news. She'd thought that he wouldn't want her to leave. After all, part of the reason they lived so deep in Viridian Forest was to protect her. Having her leave seemed like the last thing uncle would do. In response to the sudden shock, Yellow felt Chuchu's weight settle into her hair, the small Pokemon's anxiety only adding to her own.

"I believe something dark is coming to Kanto, and Team Rocket is only the beginning. We need to be ready for it, and I feel that this is the best way for you to be safe until you're strong enough to protect yourself," uncle seemed to be trying to explain it all in as few words as possible, but it seemed like there was so much to explain. Most of what was accomplished was Yellow getting more scared.

"I can't get stronger here?" she asked. By this point she had stopped brushing Epona and was standing with the brush loosely resting on the Pokemon's side.

"In a place like Viridian Forest? No, you need to learn and grow. You need to experience the word to find your true potential, and you can't do that cooped up here. It might be a bit sooner than expected, but I've always known you would have to take a journey of your own," uncle walked around to where Yellow was leaning on Epona. He looked pained, as if sending Yellow away was the last thing he wanted to do. She understood, though. There were quite a few people who knew about her, enough that she wouldn't be safe if Team Rocket came.

"If you think that's what's best, then I'll go. I'll make the best of it too," Yellow took a few deep breaths before standing on her own again. She wasn't going to let herself be afraid of what was coming. After all, the world was big and exciting, with so many Pokemon to meet. Fearing it wouldn't do her any good.

"I will give you some time to prepare," uncle said, gathering all the brushes together before placing them into the bucket. "I will stay out here to finish Epona's grooming. I haven't cleaned her hooves yet."

"Wait, am I leaving today? I thought it would be a few days from now," Yellow was yet again left shocked, leading Chuchu to start getting staticy. She was often attuned to Yellow's mood like that, more so than the other two Pokemon that lived with them.

"Blue gave us the news several days after she found out about it. It's entirely possible that Team Rocket is already beginning to move more members to Kanto. The sooner you leave, the better," uncle explained, retrieving a tool that looked more like a pick than a brush from the bucket.

"How will I know what to bring?" Yellow knew that was probably a silly question, but she wanted to be as ready as possible. This would be her first time without uncle. There wasn't much room for mistakes.

"Just enough for you and your partner," uncle said again. Yellow frowned. Sure, she loved her uncle, but he was so cryptic at times. It could make things tough to manage.

Yellow darted into the cabin, grabbing a bag along the way. She'd need to think carefully about what she wanted to bring. A change of clothes, some food to start with, treats for Chuchu. Treats were always a must. She'd have to find a map of Kanto at some point because it didn't look like they had one anywhere. A few other things went into the bag until Yellow's eyes landed on her sunhat.

"Disguise as a boy, eh?" Yellow echoed, remembering Blue's words from earlier in the day. She wouldn't be comfortable doing something as drastic as dying her hair, but disguising as a boy was something she could do. It barely took a second to wrap her hair up into a ball and stuff it underneath the hat. It was hard to tell how good it looked since there weren't really any mirrors nearby, but she thought it would be convincing enough for her to pass as a prepubescent boy. She was certainly small enough for that.

"Chuchu, what do you think?" Yellow turned to her partner, adjusting her hat slightly to cover her hair better. Now, only her bangs should really be showing.

Chuchu let out a bright squeak, indicating that she thought Yellow had done a good job. Then again, Chuchu always seemed to think that was the case. She walked up, nuzzling Yellow's ankle, which is what she usually did to ask Yellow to pick her up. With her hat and partner, Yellow looked every bit the traveller she was about to become.

They were almost ready to go with only a few things left to take care of. First, she went over to the freezer to say goodbye to Glacier, stopping to close the blinds before reaching it. When she opened it up, Glacier immediately noticed her, letting out a catlike mewl. He coated the inside in a layer of ice before leaping out to rub against Yellow's legs, wobbly on only three legs.

"Hey there Glacier. I'm gonna be going away for awhile. Can you keep an eye on uncle for me?" Yellow asked. The Glaceon had a very relaxed personality and was often found cheering people up. That was going to be a must for uncle with Yellow leaving.

Though he looked sad about the whole situation, he nodded. He was a very good Pokemon to rely on, always being the best to ask for help of some kind as long as he was able to. Even with one leg missing, he easily pushed himself up onto his hind legs to paw at Yellow's leg with his front paw. It meant that he wanted to be pet, so Yellow reached down to scratch the fluffy fur around his ears. They were cool to the touch but not quite as cold as some other Ice-types. With the touch, Yellow could tell that he was sad to see her go, but there was also a sort of contentment there, as if he had known that it was coming. It seemed that everyone had known that Yellow was going to leave except for herself.

"Goodbye Glacier," Yellow also held Chuchu so that she could say goodbye to Glacier as well, which she did by touching her tail to his side, letting loose a very weak electric shock. Glacier never seemed to mind it, since he knew it was how many Electric-types communicated. It showed how patient and thoughtful he was with the others who lived in the cabin. He didn't even understand the specifics of what the shock conveyed, but he knew enough to be understanding about it with Chuchu. This wasn't something the mouse Pokemon could do with Epona either. Although there wasn't much that phased her, she didn't do well with sudden pain, even if she saw it coming. Chuchu happened to have a bad habit of standing in her blind spots, which made it worse. She got scared whenever Chuchu tried.

Then, with determination in her step, Yellow walked back outside. It was late afternoon, and the sun was close to setting, but that wouldn't be a problem. Yellow often didn't sleep much. She could keep going well into the night, able to navigate the darkness just as well as in daylight. Plus, the cover of darkness might do her good considering she was trying to stay away from people.

"I'm ready," she said to her uncle, who was still with Epona. He was sitting beside the now laying Pokemon, with his legs crossed. Most of the light in the area was being provided by Epona's flames.

"Not quite you aren't," uncle said as he stood up. He retrieved a small pouch from one of his pockets and handed it to Yellow. "Now you are."

"What's in here?" Yellow emptied the contents of the pouch onto her hand. What was revealed was a light blue gemstone that almost looked like it was made of ice, with a darker blue core at its center. It reminded her greatly of the yellow stone that Blue had shown earlier.

"It's a gift from Ice Island," uncle said, referring to the island that was home to the legendary Pokemon Articuno.

"Why would an Articuno give something like this to us," Yellow had never met a legendary Pokemon before, so she had no idea what to expect.

"It will act as a guide for you when you are ready, just as Blue's will do for her," the explanation was vague, but Yellow knew that was all she was getting. Plus, it was more than Blue had gotten. She looked down at the stone, the idea that she might someday get to meet one of the legendary birds exciting her.

"Well, I guess now I'm ready to go then," Yellow carefully stowed the stone back in its pouch. She would have to keep it safe.

"Indeed you are. Make sure you come back to visit once in awhile," uncle enveloped Yellow in a hug, and she sank into it, letting his larger mass support her.

"Goodbye uncle. I love you," Yellow smiled, returning the hug. She was going to miss him so much and knew that the feeling was reciprocated.

"I love you too. May Arceus guide your path," uncle's face lit up in a sort of somber way with a smile. It was like candlelight rather than sunlight. There was a goodbye in that smile, but it wasn't an entirely sad one. It was more of an, 'I'll see you later,' type smile, and that made Yellow feel more secure in this decision they were making.

For the first time in her life, Yellow turned away from the cabin for good, the place she had grown up in and lived all her life. Chuchu stood up on her shoulder to wave goodbye. As they went, Yellow hoped that Arceus really was going to watch over them, since she wasn't sure if they could do it alone. Only time would really tell, she kept thinking to herself as the cabin was gradually hidden by the trees of Viridian Forest.


	15. Chapter 15

Five days after Furi had evolved, Red and his group of Pokemon were still in Viridian Forest somehow. The forest seemed to never end, with each group of trees being followed by yet another group of trees. He certainly hadn't expected the beginning of his journey to be so tedious, but here they were, surely ages away from Pewter City. It was probably due to all the stops they had taken that had greatly extended the length of the trip. Riza and Piyo didn't seem to think this was quite as boring as Red did and were enjoying all the travelling and battling. However, Furi had been spending much more time in his Pokeball, since it was harder for him to move now. It made Red feel kind of bad for keeping the Pokemon cooped up, so he'd been letting him out whenever they stopped for anything.

Every once in awhile, they heard the sound of people shouting or crashing through the forest. It was really strange. Once, they'd gotten close to whoever it was making all the noise just to see what it was, and they had seen Team Rocket grunts. Ever since, they'd been sticking close to the path. Team Rocket was nothing but trouble, especially with everything that had happened in Viridian City. Red still wondered once in awhile who that girl with the Bulbasaur was.

"I wonder how close we are," Red muttered, pulling out his Pokegear, since his paper map wouldn't be quite as useful in the middle of a forest where everything looked the same. He had to keep an eye on the battery indicator because he didn't have an Electric-type to charge it. Thankfully, there was at least enough power to check their location. "Looks like we're almost there." he zoomed in on the map, seeing a little dot labelled as the adoption center far away from the little dot that was him. It was kind of funny, seeing how far away from the path the adoption center was. The good news was that there was a lot more distance between Red and the adoption center than there was between the adoption center and the edge of the forest. It meant they were actually making some progress. He'd been beginning to doubt that they'd ever make it out. After he put his Pokegear back away, he looked up to see that neither of his Pokemon were paying attention.

"Good to know that I'm talking to myself," Red grinned at the ridiculousness of that. That was the first time he'd really smiled all day, with the long road they had to walk taking a toll on his energy. He'd gone from a normal life living with his mom and only having to worry about himself to constantly being on his feet with three Pokemon to look after.

Once again, the bustle of several people could be heard. It was a lot closer to the path than the other times he'd noticed it, and it almost sounded like the group was searching for something. Not that it would be easy to find much of anything making all that noise. Soon enough, the people were visible, a small group of fairly obvious Team Rocket grunts with bright red R's plastered all over their uniforms. Red tensed as they got close. His last encounter with Team Rocket hadn't been a positive one, so he didn't expect this to go any better.

"Hey you, kid," one of them called out, a man with a severe look and dark purple hair poking out from underneath his hat. There were five of them in total, seeming to intentionally make as much noise as possible as they moved through the forest before stopping at the path. Three of them spread out slightly, wearing the usual black grunt uniform, while the other two stayed within speaking distance of Red. Like the two with the talking Meowth he'd met in Viridian City, these two were wearing white uniforms, including the severe looking man and another one who looked a bit younger.

"Um… hi?" Red wasn't sure how to respond, but he did know that he didn't want Team Rocket anywhere near his Pokemon. Briefly, he let out a sheer whistle to call Piyo and Riza back to him. Having them roaming right now just made him nervous. Team Rocket was well known for their propensity to steal Pokemon after all. Feeling the weight of Riza climbing up onto his shoulder made Red feel slightly better, and he could see that Piyo had chosen to land in the branches of a tree that was just to the right. All three of his Pokemon were accounted for, but sadly that didn't chase away all of the nervousness that plagued him.

"Have you seen anything odd recently? Disturbances in the air, odd flashes of color between trees or Pokemon that don't seem like they belong here?" The severe grunt asked, sounding as if he was reading something off of a list. With that and all the noise they were making, Red wondered if they even knew what they were supposed to be looking for.

"Some decent food," the other white uniformed grunt added onto the end. This one had Oran Berries in his hands and popped one into his mouth every once in awhile. Mentally, Red dubbed this one Oran Berry guy, while the other one remained severe guy. They seemed like they were in charge of the group, so he assumed the white uniforms meant they were a higher rank.

"There was a rampaging Kangaskhan a few days ago. Does that count?" other than that, most of Red's journey through the forest felt rather normal. Or at least what he imagined was normal for trainers. He was still having trouble getting used to it at times. However, even a rookie like Red knew that a rampaging Kangaskhan was definitely the opposite of normal.

"Are you mocking me?" the severe grunt accused, taking a rather aggressive step towards Red. In response, Red took a step backwards, trying to place distance between him and the grunt. It didn't help at all that the guy had terrible breath.

"No, not at all," Red put his hand on Riza's back to try and quell her growling somewhat. They'd gotten in enough trouble with Team Rocket, and he didn't want any more. It seemed to work a little bit, but Riza still continued, probably not making all that great of an impression on the grunts.

"If he was mocking you, I'd probably be joining in," Oran Berry guy said as well, with a stupid grin. Someone like Green would probably describe it as a shit eating grin, but Red wasn't quite that rude. After all, being rude was Green's job. Red liked to consider himself very polite. Most of the time.

The severe guy shot a glare at Red. "You're lucky we're on duty right now kid. It's dangerous to be toting around a Pokemon like that out in the open," then he stormed off back towards the other grunts. It made Red nervous. The way he'd said it, severe guy's words had sounded suspiciously like a threat, and Red could definitely say that he didn't like the sound of that. He was very aware that Charmander was an extremely rare Pokemon, to the point that the species was extinct in the wild. Of course Team Rocket would be interested in Riza.

"Did I do something wrong?" Red hovered his hand protectively over Riza, probably looking ridiculous in the process. He could tell that she didn't like the Team Rocket grunts any more than he did, since she hadn't stopped growling through the whole conversation. Not only that, but her tail was swinging back and forth as well in agitation. Her excitable and energetic nature was fun and helpful in normal situations, but it seemed to be increasing her turmoil as well. Even her tail flame was having a few issues, as it was almost burning hot enough to hurt.

"According to him, everything is wrong," Oran Berry guy said again before following. They all began to regroup before going back on the warpath, crashing through the forest like a mobile brass band. The whole scenario had left Red very confused. What in the world were they looking for? How come Oran Berry guy had seemed mildly friendly when every other Team Rocket member he'd met had been openly hostile. So many questions with no answers at all.

Carefully, Red lifted Riza from his shoulder and nestled her in his arms. Having Team Rocket crawling all over the place was making him more and more uncomfortable. He kept expecting one of them to recognize him and call him out for opposing them in Viridian City. Yes, he knew that was ridiculous. Only two Team Rocket members had actually seen him, three if he counted the Meowth, and it had been days ago. Still, Team Rocket was an impressive force in Kanto, and they had the resources to make anyone's life difficult if they really wanted to. By this point, he just wanted to get to Pewter City. He knew he would feel better there, among other trainers getting ready for gym battles.

"Let's do some battling," Red ran his fingers over Riza's warm scales, hoping that going to battle might take his mind off of Team Rocket. He stepped off of the path, making sure to go in the opposite direction that Team Rocket had taken. Despite all the noise that they had made, it didn't seem like they'd scared away any of the Pokemon, and soon enough there were plenty to battle. Of course, they were mostly Bug-types, but that came with the terrain. There were some Flying-types here and there too, which proved to be slightly more challenging with the lack of a type advantage. As they went, Red focused far more on the battles than he needed to, noticing things about his Pokemon that he normally wouldn't, such as slight differences in their behavior that told him which types of battling they preferred. Riza for example like the more challenging fights against Pidgeys and Spearows, while Piyo seemed to thrive in battles where she had the upper hand. It made sense. Riza was always the more energetic of the two, like her typing would suggest. Furi had been battling as well, but it was harder to pinpoint him. He seemed to be staying in the background of fights, supporting rather than attacking, but that might've been because he couldn't move. Red had been mostly sending him out alongside one of the other two.

After awhile, Riza tugged at Red's hair to get his attention. They were in between battles, forging forward, but Riza's action got him to stop. He looked towards her, noticing her concerned expression and responded with one of his own. Riza was only like that when something was really wrong.

"What's wrong?" he asked, wondering what could make her act like that. In response, she pointed towards Piyo, who had landed on the ground after successfully defeating a Kakuna. She was surprisingly close to the knocked out Pokemon and looked rather distressed. She must've been hurt in some way. Immediately, guilt settled itself in Red's gut. He hadn't noticed that Piyo was hurt because of how focused he'd been on battling. This would teach him to never make that mistake again. Quickly, he darted over to where Piyo had landed, digging around in his backpack for the capsule that contained his Potions, as well as one that contained the various berries that they'd collected while in the forest.

"Are you ok? I'm sorry I let this happen," he said, letting the items he needed out onto the ground. One of the bothersome things about the capsules was that, when Red opened them up, all of the contents came out, so he had a little pile of berries to sort through to find the ones he needed. Thankfully, most of them were Oran Berries, which is what he needed for his Pokemon.

Then, he turned back towards Piyo, who was sitting on the ground with one of her wings unfolded. She wiggled it slightly to indicate that it was where she got hurt. With more apology on his face, Red placed Oran Berries in front of her for her to eat before spraying her wing with some of the Potion. The instructions said to use the whole Potion when using it, but Red only applied about half. He only had two or three left after this one, and the Oran Berries seemed to work similarly. Plus the Pokemon all seemed to like Oran Berries.

Piyo twitched in response to the stinging of the Potion, but she immediately began to look better once it stopped. Red would still keep her out of battles for awhile. Even though she already appeared better, he knew it wouldn't do her any good to strain her wing anymore. Sometimes it paid to grow up living near a Pokemon professor, since he picked up tidbits like that.

"Riza, will you be alright without her for awhile?" he asked, handing the lizard some berries. He wouldn't be surprised if she was starting to wear down as well. It tended to be harder to tell with Riza, who retained her tireless energy even when she should've been falling over from exhaustion somehow. "Actually, I changed my mind. Let's take a break. You all need a rest." Red let Furi out of his Pokeball before flopping onto the ground. Riza leapt over her tired trainer to make sure Furi was in a comfortable position. While Piyo probably couldn't care less based on her behavior, Riza was very accommodating to the less mobile form that he was in for the time being. Red noticed that Riza had pushed Furi up against his own side. He didn't mind at all. In fact, he enjoyed being close to his Pokemon.

"I really thought we would be to Pewter City by now," he muttered to himself, tallying the days they'd been in the forest while resting a hand on Furi. It was supposed to be about a week at most from Viridian City to Pewter City through the thick forest for inexperienced trainers. However, that week had passed, and they still hadn't made it through. They were still in the forest with no city in sight. It made Red wonder if he was cut out for this. If he couldn't make it through Viridian Forest on normal time, then how could he expect to manage longer routes. Some of the longest took multiple weeks to traverse.

With a little bit of wind up to warn him, Riza leapt up onto Red's belly, a welcome distraction from his thoughts. She usually liked to sleep there at night and was a very comfortable snuggle partner with her warmth, especially since it was chilly in the springtime. It was very calming for him to have her there. Up in a tree was Piyo, and Furi was still right next to him. Red realized that other than to sleep at night they really hadn't taken a rest like this one in a few days. Red hadn't realized how much he needed it, and his Pokemon probably did too.

"Riza, is that you?" he muttered at some point, hearing an odd buzzing noise. It didn't really sound like a noise Riza could make, but he'd heard her make plenty of other strange noises. However, she shook her head, looking up and around. Red also sat up, causing her to roll into his lap. She quickly righted herself again, rocking her head back and forth to listen.

"Then what in the world is it?" he tried to pinpoint the buzzing noise, but it seemed to be coming from every direction, getting louder as time went on. Maybe it was a different Pokemon? With that particular thought, the source of the buzzing dawned on him.

"Guys, get up, it's Beedrill!" he dashed to his feet, trying to figure out where they were coming from, but it was impossible to tell. The moments of hesitation cost Red too much time, and all of a sudden there were Beedrill everywhere, a mass of bees surrounding the entire group. There were too many to count, and Red was hit by a few, almost losing his footing.

"Dammit, dammit," Red swore in near panic, instinctively throwing his arms over his head. He couldn't hear anything except the buzzing that they created. The sound was so pervasive that it made him feel disoriented, and he had no idea where to go. Stinging sensations on his arms told him that the Beedrill were aggressive, and flashes of bright light told him that his Pokemon were in trouble too.

"Piyo, Furi, return!" Red held out his Pokeballs in the general direction he thought they were in. Thankfully, he saw the bright red beams of light that meant his Pokemon were recalled. However, Riza didn't have a Pokeball, so she was still out there. "Riza, where are you?" he called out, but he couldn't hear anything other than the neverending buzzing. He was sure that Riza couldn't hear him either. By this point, he couldn't even see her, and he had to start moving away to even keep on his feet.

"Riza, where are you," he tried again, louder this time, but he could barely even hear the sound of his own voice. With his frustration building, Red stumbled out of the swarm, making sure his Pokeballs were secured on his belt. Thankfully, none of the Beedrill followed him at all. They were just swarming rather than specifically going after the group. He'd have to go back and get Riza once the Beedrill were gone. It didn't actually take that long. Almost as soon as Red had rested himself against a tree, he could already barely hear the buzzing again. Soon enough, it was gone completely. It had felt like so long, but in reality, it probably had lasted less than a minute in total.

"What the hell was that?" he muttered, looking back towards where he'd come from. The first thing that he needed to do now was to go find Riza. "Riza, I'm coming back now," he shouted as he began to walk to where they'd originally been. However, as he went, he couldn't see her at all. "Riza? Where are you?"

He began to get worried because she wasn't there anymore. Maybe she had found a hiding place? But her hearing was far better than Red's, so even if she was hiding, she'd be able to hear him. She must've known the Beedrill were gone. There was no point in hiding anymore.

"Riza!" he called yet again, much louder this time. She had to be somewhere. Forcing himself to stop, Red grabbed the Pokeballs on his belt with hands he hadn't realized were shaking. "Calm down. She's here somewhere," he whispered to himself. It was hard, though. Even if he wasn't used to the daily walking, he was definitely used to having his Pokemon right by him, especially Riza. Already, it made him feel anxious to have her missing like that. It almost felt like a lesser version of the panic he felt when his Pokemon were knocked out. Lesser but no less real.

"Alright, Piyo come out," Red tossed her Pokeball to let her back out. She appeared with white light and a puff of feathers right in the air, hovering above the ground and looking around with a confused expression. It made him realize that he'd never recalled any of his Pokemon without warning them first. She must not have been used to it.

"I need you to help me look for Riza. We lost her in the chaos, and now I need help finding her," Red explained the situation to the birdlike Pokemon. He half expected her to dawdle and complain, but instead she took off immediately. It was a nice surprise. With Piyo away too, Red considered letting out Furi as well, just for comfort. The day had been far too stressful for Red's liking, and it didn't look like it was going to get any better.

"She's got to be here somewhere," he whispered to himself again, entirely aware that he was repeating himself. It was that thought that was keeping him from completely breaking down. As long as there was even the tiniest chance of finding Riza, he could convince himself that everything would turn out just fine. There was no way he was letting anything else bring him down.

Red finally let Furi out of his Pokeball too. Even if the cocoon Pokemon would slow him down, it was worth it for the company. Plus, Piyo would probably end up covering a lot more ground anyway with her speedy flight. No matter whether Red had Furi or not, Piyo was more likely to actually find Riza.

"How do you feel about coming with me to search for Riza?" Red asked. It wasn't exactly possible for Furi to use body language to answer the question like the other two, so Red had to guess based on his expression. Since Furi had a positive expression rather than a negative one, Red decided it was probably safe to assume it was a yes.

Picking up Furi, Red tried to decide which direction to walk in. He had no idea where Riza might have gone. There were so many options that it was hard to choose, and Red's tumultuous emotions weren't helping at all. In the end, he decided on the opposite direction that the Beedrill had gone. That seemed like a likely direction for her to have run.

He began to walk, his eyes darting around everywhere, looking for any sight of the color red or a flame. He relied on Furi to take care of wild Pokemon, merely tying them up with silk threads from Furi's String Shot rather than actually battling. It was far faster, and they didn't have time to waste. They went on like that for hours, with Red searching until his limbs went numb and crying out Riza's name until his throat was hoarse. It was well into the night when Red finally collapsed back onto the ground. It was so dark around him that he could barely see his hand in front of his face. That was the best environment to spot a flaming Pokemon like Riza, but he couldn't keep going to take advantage of the darkness. He was too tired and sore, having lost track of all the times he'd stumbled into trees or tripped on exposed roots.

"What are we going to do?" Red asked, knowing he didn't have an answer. Riza was missing, Piyo hadn't come back yet and Red was entirely lost. He wanted to get back up, but his muscles failed him. Crying seemed to be the only thing he had the energy to do. Carefully, he pulled Furi closer to himself, feeling tears threaten to spill onto his face. Hadn't he promised himself he wouldn't cry anymore? Sure the reasons were different, but the principle of it was the same. A promise was a promise. However, even as he reminded himself of that fact, he couldn't stop himself. He was so afraid that he might not be able to find Riza. Not only that but he was worried for her safety. She'd never lived in the wild before, so she might not know how to survive. If Red didn't find her in time, she could be in serious trouble, which meant that sitting there crying was doing the opposite of helping. Mentally berating himself, Red wiped hot tears off of his face.

"We've gotta keep looking," Red said, more for his own benefit than anything else. Furi didn't really need a running commentary of everything that was happening, but Red certainly needed the boost. Honestly, he was surprised that Furi was even still awake. Even though he didn't sleep quite as much as Piyo did, he still liked to get his rest. Although he always acted disappointed rather than annoyed when he was woken up. "Do you want to go back to your Pokeball?" Red decided to ask, since this all must've been very boring, and it was cold.

Furi's expression turned into something that pretty obviously meant no. As tired as he was, Red was grateful for that. He'd rather be slowed down than alone at the moment.

"Let's go this way, then," Red picked a random direction, hoping that it would somehow bring them closer to where they needed to be, not that Red even knew where they needed to be. All he knew was that this way wasn't where he came from. However, after more time went by, Red knew that he wasn't getting anywhere. Everything looked the same, with silhouettes of trees blending together. He was pretty sure he'd just been walking in circles since he'd started. The realization came to him that it would probably be far more productive to sleep and then try again in the morning.

For the last time that night, Red sat down with his back against a tree. "Goodnight Furi," he said, finally letting himself have some rest. With the long day that they'd had, anyone but himself would certainly say that he deserved it.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Fun fact, chapters 15 and 16 are partly based on episode 4 of the anime because I'm too lazy to make up my own plot. Originally these two chapters were going to be a lot less serious, akin to how the anime often feels, but then I started writing, and it didn't end up happening. They were also originally supposed to be one chapter, but they ended up being really long. Once again, lots of credit to my editor VigorousEmperor for helping me out.**

Red was awakened by a sharp pain on his forehead, as if someone was jabbing him repeatedly with a sharp stick. He hadn't even opened his eyes yet, and he could already tell that it was way too early for anyone to be waking him up. Not only that, but he was really cold. Everything just felt extremely wrong. There wasn't enough information for his woozy mind to puzzle it out yet, but something was definitely not right .

He opened his eyes to see Piyo hovering right in front of him, probably having been pecking at him to wake him up. Instead of Riza, he had Furi in his arms, and he was in a rather awkward position up against a tree.

"Piyo, what is it?" he said, his voice scratchy and descending into a coughing fit at the end of the sentence. It was a dry cough, with nothing to bring up. Once he could breathe again, he looked around, realizing he couldn't see Riza at all. "Where's… oh no…" his mind finally filled in the missing information, and he remembered what had happened the day before. Looking down at himself, he could barely see the outlines of several light scratches that covered his arms. However, that was nothing next to how he felt without Riza.

Piyo pecked at his head again to get his attention. She seemed to be trying to show him something, so he stood, securing Furi in his arms. The sudden motion ended up waking up the Bug-type, who looked up and around. "Piyo wants to show us something," Red explained, shivering in the chill of the night. He should've gotten his sleeping bag the night before, but it was obviously too late now.

"Ok, let's go," Red said, which led him to another coughing fit. He really should stop talking. Piyo's response to that all was just a nod before she began to fly away, back in the direction she'd come from. Hoping that she would lead them to Riza, Red followed through the forest, with Furi in his arms still. In the quiet darkness, Red noticed keenly how long the walk took, and he really couldn't do much other than track the moon across the sky. It wasn't eventful, but somehow that in itself was very stressful, and Red couldn't help but feel nervous. After all, if Piyo really was leading them to Riza, something had to be wrong. If something wasn't wrong, then they could've come back together. Finally, they reached a point where Piyo stopped moving forward, hovering in place again. She motioned in the direction she'd been flying, but didn't go any further. She seemed almost afraid to go any further, suggesting that something was wrong.

"Is it dangerous?" Red decided that that would be the best question to ask with the few words he had, and she nodded. They'd have to be very careful going forward. Much quieter than before, they started to move again. Red was careful to listen ahead, hearing what sounded like human voices. They weren't close enough for him to hear what they were saying, but there were definitely several, and they sounded somewhat upbeat. Soon, the dense forest opened out into a large clearing. There was a huge tree that loomed right in the middle, an intimidating silhouette in the dim, predawn light. Just around the tree were a couple fires with people sitting around them. They weren't much, but they looked more like a watch than a whole group. Red's stomach sank as he looked more closely at them and noticed the signature black and red uniform of Team Rocket. He must've found where they were camping out.

Red backed away from the clearing a bit, hiding in the bushes. Being seen was definitely right on the bottom of his to do list. "Is she there?" he whispered, hoping he wouldn't be heard. It was a ridiculous fear, since the clearing was huge, and the rocket members were all right around the tree. Piyo nodded to his question again, flying out into the darkness, towards another spot near the tree. There, he could see a smaller flame and the glint of light on metal. For the first time since the day before, Red felt the seed of hope blossom in his heart. However, the fear from before was still there. After all, Team Rocket had somehow gotten her, which meant that he'd have to face them again.

As he watched, one of the Rocket grunts and ran at what Red was assuming was a cage, shouting and waving his hands. It caused Piyo to take to the air again flying back towards Red and landing on his head. She was a bit ruffled and immediately began to groom her feathers.

"Any rescue ideas?" Red asked, to which she hopped down onto a branch of the bush entirely to give him a look that said, 'Are you really going to try this?' She didn't seem overly upset by the notion, just perplexed.

"Well, we've gotta do something," Red rubbed his throat as he spoke, knowing that he wasn't willing to leave until he'd managed to rescue Riza from Team Rocket. The problem was that it wouldn't be easy at all to just sneak over and try to take her back. While there were really only a few fires, each with a couple grunts, all of them were in plain view of Riza's cage. It was hard to count exactly how many there were, but it was definitely enough that he wouldn't be able to fight them off if he was spotted. Even just one Rocket grunt would've been enough to make Red nervous.

He backed out of the bush and into the trees, figuring he'd circle around and look at the clearing from other directions. Since the cage was near the tree, he'd check to see if there was a point where the edge was any closer to the tree. He heard the sound of Piyo taking off again, and she landed back on his head, making a noise that was almost akin to a sigh.

He ran around, checking back periodically to see if the tree was any closer, but it always seemed to be just as far. It was as if it was in the direct center of the clearing, which was ridiculous. The chances of that happening was so ridiculously low that it was almost impossible. At least there didn't really seem to be any Team Rocket on the far side of the tree, so that would be helpful. Soon, the moon was a lot higher than before, and Red could see the clearing a lot better, though still not very well. There were a few tents scattered about, and he realized that there were Beedrill buzzing all over the tree. All of these facts caused a picture to form in Red's head of the previous day. If they were camping near a Beedrill hive, then it would be really easy to scare them or something and cause them to swarm.

"Do you think that Team Rocket caused the Beedrill to swarm yesterday?" Red asked. He certainly thought it was possible. Piyo ruffled her feathers in response, as if the idea was upsetting. Liking Team Rocket definitely wasn't something that was popular among Red and his team. He sat down, putting Furi in his lap. It was hard to tell what the Metapod thought about the whole business, but it was probably similar to how Red felt. Furi and Riza were fairly close, definitely closer to each other than either of them were with Piyo.

"What if we tried some sort of distraction?" Red wondered out loud, forgetting about his voice yet again. However, there were too many grunts for something on the scale that Red and his team to create to work. Even if they made as much noise as possible, there would still likely be Rocket grunts left to notice Red trying to sneak over. That was unless he took advantage of the Beedrill tree. It was entirely plausible as a strategy of attack, even if it was a dangerous one. If Riza was in trouble, though, it would be entirely worth it. "I know exactly what we're going to do."

Furi and Piyo looked at Red curiously, like they were wondering what he had been able to come up with. A bit of hope could also be seen in Furi's gaze, showing how much he cared about getting her back. Getting Riza back would make everyone happy, even the seemingly indifferent Piyo. After all, once Riza was back, Red would stop asking her to do ridiculous things.

"We're going to cause the Beedrill to swarm again," Red announced in a very not announcement worthy voice, leading both of his Pokemon to look at him like he was crazy. Really, he probably was, but Red was having trouble thinking of anything else reasonable with Riza's freedom on the line. Only the craziest of plans would suffice . Because of that, the Beedrill seemed to be the best option at the moment. He just needed to find a way to go about it. They would need to cause some kind of ruckus for the Beedrill rather than Team Rocket so that the Beedrill could then cause a bigger ruckus for Team Rocket. However, neither Piyo nor Furi had powerful special attacks that could bother the Beedrill from far away. Sure, Piyo did know Gust, but it was oddly short range for a special attack.

"Piyo, can you fly back to Riza and ask her to use Ember on the Beedrill?" he asked, but Piyo shook her head to that. "Why not?" Piyo motioned with her wing to Red's mouth than her own beak. Team Rocket must've done something to keep her from attacking them. He wondered if he could call someone for help, but when he took his Pokegear out of his pocket, he realized that it was out of batteries. He really should've called someone the night before. Briefly wondering why that had occurred to him, he went back to his plan concerning freeing Riza. It wouldn't be nearly as safe as attacking the Beedrill from afar, but if both Piyo and Furi could get close enough, they might be able to use Tackle and Gust to cause some disruption.

"Ok, so neither of you are going to like this plan, but I want both of you to attack the Pokemon in the tree," he finally said, once again getting weird looks from his Pokemon. "I mean, if you have a better idea, I'm all ears." However, neither of them seemed to have any. "I'll come with you as far as I can."

Red realized that he was probably talking far too much for his own good. If he didn't stop, then he might hurt his voice more. Carefully, he lowered himself down close to the ground. He had to shove his fear of confronting Team Rocket back down into the dark recesses of his mind. Concentration would be of utmost importance. Red went out into the clearing slowly, trying to make as little noise as possible. As he creeped closer with Furi, Piyo flew overhead, landing in the shadow as close as she could without flying into the light of any of the campfires. It wasn't long before he'd be caught up, so he stopped slightly further away. He was bigger and would be seen more easily.

"Alright, you two ready? Attack the Beedrill," Red whispered to his team, and Piyo took swiftly to the air, carrying Furi with her. Thankfully, he was quite a bit lighter than he looked, an easy Pokemon to be carried by a powerful flier like Piyo. Red flattened himself to the ground as she did that, trying to make himself even less noticeable.

Once she'd reached a high enough point, she dropped Furi into the branches to do his own thing. Then, she propelled herself through the leaves, making a ruckus and causing several Beedrill to take flight. The faint buzzing that had been in the background until then suddenly got louder, and more appeared. Soon, Piyo could even be seen sending out short bursts of air using her Gust attack to keep them away whenever they got close. However, they weren't very powerful, and it wasn't long before she looked like she was having trouble, so she dropped back down to the ground, close to the trunk of the tree where she wouldn't be as noticeable. Red decided to take a page from her book and also crawled in that direction, hoping the Beedrill would be occupied with things other than him. Getting closer to the trunk took him away from danger and closer to Riza. He couldn't see her yet, but he knew he was almost there.

As he looked again, he realized that getting close to the trunk might've been the best idea he could've come up with. Even more Beedrill were in the air now, rivalling the amount he'd seen the day before. The Team Rocket grunts as well were starting to move, some stumbling out of tents obviously disoriented and trying to get away from the flying swarm. However, the mass of motion ended up being what brought them down, as it caught the attention of all of the Bug-types. That was bad for Team Rocket but good for Red. The plan was turning out better than he could've hoped for. As soon as they were far enough for Red to feel safe, he ran out into the open, easily spotting Riza's tail flame in the darkness. It seemed oddly small, but he wasn't going to let that deter him.

"Riza," he tried to call out, but it ended up being more of a strangled choke. Still, it was enough to get Riza's attention, and she looked towards him, her expression lighting right up. Her tail flame seemed to blaze a bit more brightly too, going back to its normal size. Red could immediately see why Piyo had said she couldn't use Ember. There was a gag wrapped around her face, preventing her from making noise or using long range moves. Even her tail was tied to one of the bars of the cage. As soon as he reached her, Red dropped down to the ground and began to check and see if she was alright.

"Riza, I'm here now. I'm gonna get you out of there," he saw her try to reach him through the bars, but all she could reach with her short arms were his hands. His first order of business was to undo the gag. There was no way a dirty rag like that was going to be comfortable, so it just had to come off. Once it was, she spit out another, smaller cloth that had been stuffed into her mouth. Seeing this, Red felt a hot flash of anger move through him. Team Rocket had no right treating her like this, locking her up in the cold all alone like that. As soon as she was free, Riza looked grateful, but there was something off in her expression. She began to make her chirping sound, looking past Red rather than right at him. Confused, he whirled around to see a Team Rocket member looming behind him, not a grunt but Oran Berry guy with his white uniform covered in leaves and dirt. Red steeled his nerves against his gut reaction to run, backing up close to the cage to keep himself between Riza and the Rocket member.

"Yeesh, calm down. I'm not gonna hurt you or anything. I came to give you the damn key," he held up a small, innocuous looking key. If it wasn't labelled, Red would've never guessed it was the one he needed. Without warning, the guy tossed it, leaving Red to fumble around trying to catch it.

"Thank you," Red said, gripping it hard so he wouldn't drop it. "But why would you help me?" he felt one of Riza's hands on his wrist, and he looked down to see her peeking around at Oran Berry guy. Although she didn't seem to be aggressive, her expression was wary.

"You did me a bit of a favor just now with the Beedrill. Got me some sweet revenge from yesterday. I got caught in the swarm and nearly had my head taken off," he turned his head sideways and made a gross noise in the back of his throat, as if to mimic getting decapitated. Even if it was to get the point across, it seemed like overkill. "If anyone's gonna off me, it's gonna be myself and not some stinking bugs."

"That makes sense I guess," the wording made Red feel a bit uncomfortable, but he decided to ignore it as best he could. "Piyo can you get Furi?" he said to the bird Pokemon, who had landed on the top of the cage. She nodded and took flight again, only dawdling around slightly.

"You'd better hurry before the other idiots come back," Oran Berry guy sat down with his back against the tree and pulled more berries from his pocket. With the key in hand, Red turned back to the cage and unlocked it. Riza attempted to leap out as soon as it was open, forgetting that her tail was still bound to the side of the cage, and she ended up being yanked back by her tail. It both looked and sounded painful, as she let out a yelp that was almost painful to the ear. Carefully, Red untied her tail, and the second time she tried to dart out, she landed neatly on Red's lap.

"I'm sorry I let them get you," Red stood up, holding Riza close to his chest. "I won't let this happen again." he scratched her at the base of her tail, right where she liked it, and she pressed herself to his chest. She was rumbling like a cat with a growly purring sound to complete the effect. If she didn't look so much like a lizard, Red would've wondered if he'd accidentally chosen a Meowth as his partner. Once Riza was settled, Red looked around for Piyo and Furi.

He spotted Piyo flying down from the tree soon enough, with Furi held in her claws. There was something not quite right, though. She was flying at an oddly slow pace, like she was being careful of something.

"Piyo, what is it?" Red really hoped that something else hadn't gone wrong. He felt like he'd had enough problems for an entire lifetime in the past 24 hours. Oddly, Piyo didn't answer immediately, instead opting to wait until she'd placed Furi gently onto the ground. Red could immediately tell what the cause of her careful flying was. Furi's eyes were closed, and he was shaking from side to side, with a small split down the middle of his shell getting bigger as he continued. The whole scene brought to mind the thought that he should be concerned, but he wasn't for some reason. To be honest, he was more concerned that he wasn't concerned about his Pokemon. "What happened?" Red rushed over to check on his Pokemon.

"Lucky you. Looks like the little squirt is evolving," Oran Berry guy snickered at Red's cluelessness, and the young trainer realized that it had, in fact, been several days since Furi had evolved into a Metapod and was certainly due to become a Butterfree.

Red watched as the crack widened and began to emit a white glow, just like when he'd evolved before. It almost became too bright to look at. Just as Red was about to look away, Furi emerged from the light, shedding his shell, which crumpled a bit with nothing to fill it. Red had expected him to be a lot bigger, but his wings were damp and crumpled up instead of what they would look like normally, and he had to remain on the ground rather than taking to the air like he would like to.

"You did it Furi, I'm proud of you," Red grinned, scanning his newly evolved Pokemon with his Pokedex. Due to his evolution into Butterfree, he was now a Flying-type in addition to his Bug-type, and he would be able to use the move Gust. Since his wings were brand new, and he'd never used them before, Red thought it might take a bit of practice to actually get the move down, as opposed to Piyo who was used to flapping her wings hard to achieve high speeds.

Furi reached up with his arms, even shorter than Riza's, and opened and closed his fingers, like he wanted to be picked up. Red nodded, placing Riza onto one of his shoulders and picking up Furi. Riza seemed happy with the arrangement, hopping from side to side to bop Furi on the nose a few times. Red's sense of balance did not like that idea, but he dealt with it.

"Alright, woohoo. Your Pokemon evolved. Can you go now? I'd like to hate myself alone," Oran Berry guy grumbled, fooling around with a few Pokeballs. The way he said it, Red couldn't tell if he was being serious or not. Red hoped it was the latter. Even if he was a Team Rocket member, he'd still helped Red out.

"Ok, we're going," Red said. He made sure he had everything ready, trying to keep steady with multiple Pokemon on him. "Come on guys," he began to cough again as he said that, almost dropping Furi when he moved one arm to cover his face. All that disruption caused Riza to come around and look closely at his face before seeming to decide he was fine and going back to play with Furi.

They began to go back into the woods to get away from the clearing. Red was slightly nervous that Team Rocket might have some sort of tracker Pokemon, like Arcanine or Mightyena, to find him with, but they weren't really known for those sorts of tactics. They tended to use other means to find the people they wanted. After a little while of that, he stopped, waving for Piyo to stop with him. She easily found a bush to land in, wondering what Red wanted to stop for. The reason, of course, was because Furi's wings seemed to have mostly dried out and were now very much in Red's face. He figured they were far enough away from Team Rocket now for a stop to be reasonable.

"Alright Piyo, I want your help with something. Furi's never flown before, so can you help him learn a bit, since you're such a good flier and all," Red rubbed his throat, remembering that butterfly and moth Pokemon should be able to naturally fly, but a little bit of coaching couldn't hurt, even if it was from a bird. Really, he just wanted to get a sense of normalcy back, so stopping to train was a logical step forward.

Piyo looked mildly peeved at having to get back up again so soon after finding a place to rest, but she hopped down from the bush anyway. She cooed to talk to Furi, flapping her wings but staying in one place. In response, Furi flapped his own wings, taking to the air far more easily than Red would've expected. Red smiled, happy that Furi could finally move again, far more that he could've before. Leaving the two to practice together, he turned back to Riza.

"You wanna help me supervise?" he said to her, but she leapt to the ground, pointing towards the two Flying-types. It looked like she wanted to join in the training too. With a nod, Red picked up a small stick that was on the ground next to his foot.

"How about some target practice, then," Red tossed the stick into the air. "Use Ember."

Riza jumped into action, sending glowing Embers flying towards the stick. However, it was much smaller than her usual targets, and she missed by a few inches. Quickly, Red searched the ground for another one to toss up, but once it was in the air, Riza missed again. Both times, the speeding embers tore through the leaves of the trees behind the sticks. Red wasn't worried about causing a fire or anything, since it was a Pokemon move. It was a weird thing, but Fire-type attacks didn't cause anything to light on fire. They just dealt damage to other Pokemon. The effects of the attacks even barely affected humans, causing a bit of pain and discomfort but nothing else. It was the same with all the other types as well.

A few more sticks later, and Riza seemed to be getting annoyed with the whole missing a lot business. She gave Red a look that seemed to wonder what the whole point of this was.

"It's to help your aim. I'm sure you want to get more critical hits, right?" Red asked, knowing that the promise that it would help her battle better would get her interested again. The more accurate a Pokemon's moves were, the more likely they were to get critical hits once they knew where to strike. Plus, Red had a bit of an ulterior motive as well. He didn't want Riza accidentally hitting another Pokemon in the eyes. Other moves like Sand Attack, targeting the opponent's eyes was an illegal move during official battles, and for good reason too. Even though it was difficult for a Pokemon move to do any sort of lasting damage unless they were extremely high level, their eyes tended to be far more sensitive to being struck than the rest of them. As a result, aiming for the eyes was banned.

After Red spoke, Riza nodded fiercely, reinvigorated by the idea of getting critical hits more often. She was a born battler and no longer seemed to want to turn down the chance to get better now that she knew what the whole deal was. Red crouched down to scratch her on the head.

"Good, let's try just a few more times," he said, looking over for a second to check how Furi was doing. It looked like the butterfly Pokemon was already catching on to the basics of how to use a Gust attack. One thing that he noticed was that, while the attack was fairly weak, Furi's larger wingspan allowed his attack to cover a much wider area than Riza's. That would change once Riza evolved, but it was definitely something interesting for now. Red made a mental note to train them together in the future.

He tossed another stick into the air, thinking of how the rest of the day was going to go. They would set back out soon to go to Pewter City, and would probably take a nap break after lunch. While Red was still too wired up to sleep at all, he was sure he'd be plenty tired by then. That seemed like a good plan, so he was going to stick to it.


End file.
